Sergi L. Demchuk

I finished basic flight training at Webb AFB and got my wings in 1958. I was one one of a small group of pilots to go directly to the F-100.  Previously you had to have fighter experience in the F-84 or F-86 before flying the Hun.  After training in the F-100 at Luke and Nellis AFBs, I flew it for eleven years.

I flew the F-4 at Udorn RTAFB in Thailand, 1973-1974.  We were primarily bombing Cambodia (with questionable objectives) while the peace talks in Paris went on.  Finally, a ceasefire order arrived, effective at noon Thailand time.  We flew the regular schedule that morning, while guys not flying prepared for a big hamburger and beer barbeque that afternoon.  At noon, the duty officer put a big strike through the remaining flights on the scheduling board and added “The war is over.”  When all the troops had landed, we had a squadron meeting to recognize the historic importance of that day.

When I left for the BBQ, I saw that under the words “The war is over” on the scheduling board, someone had added in small print–“Who won?”