Armed Forces: Back in Uniform

• Share

When United Flight 91 nonstop from Boston touched down at Los Angeles International Airport, Copilot Milton Ervine ("Erv") Johnson Jr. noticed waiting photographers. Figuring that they were there to film the DC-8 taxiing to the terminal gate, Johnson impishly mugged it up at the cockpit window for the grinding cameras. Then the cabin door swung open and a United Airlines public relations girl leading a covey of newsmen stepped in. "Commander Milton Johnson?" she asked. "I think that's you."

Thus Erv Johnson, 38, learned that he was back in the Navy as a result of the Korean confrontation. President Johnson's activation of 14,787 civilians in 28 Air Reserve units of the National Guard, Air Force and Navy turned "weekend warriors" into full-time military men practically overnight. Many Reservists were given less than twelve hours to report to their units; few had more than 24-hour notice. Most were caught by surprise.

No Escrow. Navy Parachute Rigger 3C Stanley K. Kase was honeymooning in Puerto Rico when he was ordered to join his unit at Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station, Brooklyn. Airman 1C William D. Fox of the 445th Military Airlift Wing, Marietta, Ga., was to be married the next day—and got a three-day pass from his commanding officer. Aviation Mechanic Ira Bennett, of the Navy's Squadron VA831 in New York City, also planned to be married this week. "I was in shock when I heard we were called," he said. "I'm just shaking now."

Not every Reservist was so dismayed. "It couldn't have come at a better time," allowed Lieut. Commander John Brame, a member of Erv Johnson's Naval At tack Squadron VA776 at Los Alamitos, Calif. Brame, a real estate salesman, had just concluded a big project and currently has "nothing in escrow." Air Force 2nd Lieut. Jim Riordan, 25, of the 150th Tactical Fighter Group, Albuquerque, N. Mex., was all ready to go and "even looking forward to it. In the back of my mind, I figured we would be called."

Justice Done. Such calm acceptance was the prevailing attitude of the activated Reservists—even among Viet Nam veterans. New York's Lieut. Peter Dodge, 27, veteran of 215 combat missions in Viet Nam and holder of a drawerful of medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, was released from the Navy four months ago. About to begin commercial-airline pilot training, he was ordered back to duty with Squadron VA831. "I'm not upset," said Dodge. "I'm very anxious to see justice done." Another who felt the same way was Marko Jukica, a naval gunner in the Austro-Hungarian fleet during World War I. On mobilization day, Jukica offered his services to the Navy, was politely turned down when he admitted that he was 79 years old.

For some of those called back, it was the fourth and fifth time they had been summoned to the colors. Lieut. Colonel LaVerne Donner, 46, commander of the 107th Tactical Fighter Group, Niagara Falls, fought in World War II, and was later reactivated for the Korean War and the Berlin and Cuban crises. When his unit was mobilized again, said his wife Marilynn, "we all sat down and cried a bit."