We Were Crewdogs I - The B-52 Collection

This is the first effort at collecting untold stories about what it was really like to be a crewmember in a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft. It is told first hand by the only ones who can really tell the story - those who were actually there.



This first book has a great collection of stories and laid the groundwork for additional volumes in this series. The later books are a little larger and have more stories, but this one sets the stage for those with a collection of acronyms used throughout the series and some great stories you will not find anywhere else. If you, or anyone you know was a crewmember, then this will tell the story of what it was all about.



Here is a collection of stories told by 17 contributing authors who were former Crewdogs (crew members) in the US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress. Several of these contributors are well-known authors of their own books and lend their skills to this collection.



Included are stories by a crew member of the first B-52 shot down over Hanoi during Linebacker II and the pilot of the last B-52 shot down over Vietnam. The day-to-day life of Nuclear Alert is the subject of many tales. Not all are war stories. Some are humorous insights into personal recollections of things that happened, but have never before been told. The book includes aircraft and crew photos and photos from alert tours and Guam and U-Tapao, the bases that were used to launch bombing missions, including Linebacker II strikes.



One chapter highlights the terms used by generations of B-52 Crewdogs

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Introduction



We Were Crewdogs - Mission Statement - Tommy Towery

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Chapter One - Becoming A Crewdog



The Language of the B-52 Crewdogs

Peace Is Our Profession

Becoming a Crewdog - Vince Osborne

My First Crew - Tommy Towery

The Aircraft Bible - The Dash-One

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Chapter Two - Peacetime SAC Warriors



The B-52 Peacetime Missions - Charles N. Brown

Dropping the Big One - Walter J. Boyne

Say Cheese, Please - Denny Scruggs

Let Sleeping Crewdogs Lie - Wayne Shimet

Banned From the Officer’s Club - George W. Golding

The Green Ball of Fire - Gordon Hallgren

Northern Wedding - A Four-Ship to Europe, 1976 - Lynn Wakefield

Nice approach, Co! - Gordon Hallgren

Thunderstorm on Final - Walter J. Boyne

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Chapter Three -The Cold War



The B-52 and Nuclear Alert - Walter J. Boyne

Sitting Alert – A Personal View - Tommy Towery

DEFCON 2 Cuban Missile Crisis - Arthur Craig Mizner

Satellite Alert and SAC Security - Gary E. Henley

And It Wasn’t Even an Eskimo Pie George W. Golding

Rookie Alert Tour - SAC ORI on Final - Lynn Wakefield

Bite Me Crank, Mate! - Tommy Towery

Known-Notice Alert Exercise - Bill Beavers

Santa Don’t Need No Stinking Line Badge - Denny Scruggs

When a Good Message Goes Bad, Very Bad - Lynn Wakefield

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines - Denny Scruggs

The Day the Klaxon Sounded “For Real” - Tommy Towery

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Chapter Four -The B-52 in Combat -Vietnam



Vietnam and Linebacker II - Charles N. Brown

A Picture Is Worth 444 Words - Bill Beavers

Linebacker II – A Personal View - Vince Osborne

The “Door Rester” - Vince Osborne

Bailout - Gerald Wickline

IP Inbound – The Final Minutes of Charcoal 1 - Robert G. Certain

The Dreaded Bag Drag - James Hooppaw

Just Another Flight - George Robert Dempsey

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Chapter Five - Bar Stories



A Few Shots from the Gunners - Karl Nedela

Put Out the Arc Light, Free the POGS - Bill Beavers

Fading Memories, Odds and Ends, and Bar Stories - Tommy Towery

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Mission Debrief



Conclusions - Bill Beavers

B- 52 Crewdogs in Books and Movies