Serving in icy Alaska

When Jack Wallace enlisted in the Air Force in July of 1964, he was sent for basic training to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The heat was terrific in July and August, but he figured he was being trained for the tropics or some place hot. But after special training at Shepherd Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, he was sent to Elmendorf Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska!

"I'll never forget the day I got off the plane at Anchorage on Jan. 5, 1965, they warned us that whatever we did to have gloves on or not touch the handrail as we would leave part of our skin there. I didn't, but I thought I was going to freeze that first winter. It was just opposite of Lackland."

That first year, Alaska 60 inches of snow fell and the temperature dropped to as low as 48 degrees below zero.

They were issued all kinds of warm clothing and taught how to use it with regards to the weather. He was especially intrigued with the big pair of mittens he was given. They were lined with some kind of fur and had fur on the back. When asked why, he was told they were to be used to wipe his nose after his drippings froze -- and that is exactly how it worked. Frostbite was frowned on in the military. They gave you enough clothes so it shouldn't happen, so you had better use them correctly. One of the first things Wallace had to do in Alaska was learn to walk. "That ice was slick -- and hard," Wallace said.

Wallace was trained to be a teletype operator, but not with Morse Code. He used a keyboard and entered classified information after which a little tape came out with holes in it. There were about 300 other guys in the building in which he worked. The building was steam heated, but they had to ride the shuttle bus about a mile and a half to work. With the extreme cold, the buses had to use straight anti-freeze to keep them running.

His unit was assigned to the 6981st Security Group. The information was secret and he couldn't tell anyone what he entered. There were air raid warning alerts with sirens and they had to get their gas masks on and be prepared, but there was never an actual raid while he was there. One of the reasons security was so tight was because of the close proximity to Russia and the Vietnam War had escalated.

After Wallace had been in Alaska for about 11 months, his girlfriend, Carolyn Dennis of Walker, Mo., came and they were married by the chaplain in the base chapel. He had lived in the barracks until this time, but they rented a small apartment about two blocks north of downtown Anchorage. One morning when they looked out their window, there were two moose in their yard. Carolyn got a job at the Post Exchange. On their free days, they toured some. They saw Portage Glacier and Mt. Alaska Ski Lodge and took a trip to Fairbanks. They never got to go to Mt. McKinley, but could see it from Anchorage on clear days. They especially enjoyed the summers after the long dark winters. In the summer, it never really got dark. Wallace said when the Northern Lights were putting on a show, it literally made shivers run down his back they were so spectacular.

Wallace was in Alaska for three and a half years. He was there for a two year tour and asked for an extension there and got it. He never got to come home during this time. When asked if he had to do KP, he said, "Oh yes. I soon learned you don't volunteer for nothing." He also said he had a choice in the style of his haircut, "However they wanted to do it." So even in that time of longer hair -- he lost it all.

He chose not to stay in the Air Force, but admitted that, "it probably would have been the smartest thing to do." When his tour of duty was over, Jack and Carolyn got in their old pickup and camper and headed home. They made the almost 4000 miles in 7 days. "We just wanted to get home."

After Jack and Carolyn arrived at home in Walker, they only stayed 25 days before heading to Nashville, Tenn., where he attended a diesel mechanics and welding school for nine months.

When they came back he began working for Floyd Gammon, the Case IH dealer at Harwood. They had a daughter, Dawn, and have continued to make this area their home ever since.

Wallace said that his time in the service "was not that exciting, but important." "I'm glad I enlisted. I wouldn't trade the experience for the world."