The Joneses attended the San Antonio, TX 2004 Dinner Get-together. 

One of these ladies is Margaret, Bobby Don's wife and the bowling team.

5-25-04   Entry by daughter, Theresa:  I was Born at Chad AFB November, 1953. My father, Gene Kerkman, served from 1951 or 1952 - 1954/55.   He was in 7373rd /Aircraft Maintenance. Now resides in Arizona.

Comments:  6-25-03  I arrived at Châteauroux in August of 1952, what a shock, just mostly tents and one old Mess Hall, which was feeding about 7000 troops, outdoor latrines, warm showers maybe once or twice a week. Certain spots in the mess halls roof was gone, rain, snow or sunshine came in. I went to work at Déols in the Property Office along with S/Sgt Moulton, M/Sgt Webber S/Sgt Tilkins amd Sgt Owens, I've located Moulton and Owens but I have never had any info on Tilkins, Owens told me that Tilkins married an English woman after I left, if anyone has any info on S/Sgt Donald Tilkins please let me know. I hated it while I was there but as I look back, it was probably 2 of the happiest years of my life. I almost married a French girl from Loche but backed out at the last moment She went to work in the PX Clothing Dept later, I hope she found a husband and has a good life. (I came home and married a girl I met, we will be married 50 years in 1954). I have really enjoyed this Web site. 

I  remembered that there was a few barracks there when I arrived, but they were full and we were in tents for all that winter of 1953 before some of us moved into barracks. Another thing that I just remembered was we had scrambled eggs for breakfast for days and days in a row, we used to laugh and say that we shouldn't complain because they were a different color each day yellow, greenish, or kind of a mixture of those along with some blue in them. I shall never forget the chow lines we stood in. I can be conservative and say that they were at least two hundred yards long.  I can remember walking thru the hanger at Déols and finding a hammer and sickle (Russian emblem) type pen that you could attach to your clothing, I carried it to Major Thomas De Sipin and asked him about it.  He told me that NATO was required to hire a certain percentage of French Nationals from the Communist Party since it was the largest political party in France at that time, that all the smaller parties banned together to keep them from power at election times, I found that strange since I had a brother in the Army fighting in Korea at that time.

7-21-04  I'm son, Kim Wilkes, responding for my dad. My dad, Norman Wilkes, served at the air force base and I was born at the Châteauroux base hospital in 1954. Born at Chas