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VeteranSpotlight

Worth Nelson Feb. 21, 1931 - Sept. 19, 2017 Korea and Vietnam: SAC U.S. Air Force

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Why did it take Worth Nelson 21 years to qualify for a 20-year military retirement? That’s one of the many stories he had to tell in a recent August interview.

When younger, Worth lost partial use of his fingers in an episode with dynamite caps. When he went to enlist in various branches of the U.S. armed forces, only the Air Force decided to accept him. He went from home on Post Creek to Missoula and then to Butte for his physical and was sworn in on Jan. 2, 1951. From there he went to Lackland AFB in Texas. The guys were in tents with only one blanket, and it was cold.

Lackland was Worth’s first boot camp, but there was a problem with the officer in charge and his group of guys was sent to Wichita Falls, Texas where they had to do boot camp all over again. Worth completed aircraft maintenance school and 3350 Engine School in Chanute, Illinois and in March was sent to March AFB, Riverside, California. There he worked on B-29 planes. He was part of fixing up a lot of them to be sent overseas.

Worth served his four years and then requested to go to England for his next assignment.  “Request denied,” so he got out on Dec. 15, 1954. A year later, the Air Force decided he could go to England after all so he reenlisted in February 1956. They forgot all about the disability with his hand. Worth went to flight engine school in McChord, Washington but things didn’t go too well there, and the next thing he knew, he was back in maintenance. 

Why did he want to go to England so bad? Well, he had met a girl from there. He was there for 3.5 years and loved it. The girl that enticed him to England married him, but when they went to his next assignment in Mountain Home, Idaho, the change was too much for her. Worth gave her a divorce, a bus ticket and boat fare back to England. He served as a mechanic for medevac planes. After four years in Mountain Home, Worth went to Travis AFB, California. Leaving from there he went on several TDY’s (temporary duty) to Guam, Japan, etc. He went to Saigon, Vietnam twice in 1967 and 1968, and to Thailand in 1970 and 1971. 

It was in Da Nang, Vietnam that Worth earned his purple heart. He remembered the day exactly – Aug. 28, 1968. His vehicle was hit with two rockets that blew out everything but the seat holding Worth and the steering wheel. For a time, the doctors didn’t think he would survive. Worth was strong-minded. He did his work wearing hospital pajamas and refused to have his leg amputated. He amazed everyone by being discharged and returning to regular duty.

During his last assignment in Thailand, Worth’s job was dealing with materials and taking care of planes. He became a flight line supervisor and was appointed base “commander” for a time.  Worth was only a Tech. Sgt and one of the guys who outranked him wasn’t sure he wanted to take orders from Worth. After Worth easily handled a contentious phone call from a Washington, D.C. general, the guy said, “You’re the boss!”

At the end of Worth’s second enlistment of 16 years, he returned to Travis AFB for a year and then retired. It was that one year between enlistments that caused Worth to put in 21 years to get his 20-year retirement. When Desert Storm heated up, Worth tried to enlist again. The recruiter said, “Get out of here!”

Worth liked to travel and hasn’t been to any place that he didn’t like. When the new B-47 planes came out, he went all over the world showing them. “In the air force you can be in Japan tonight - Germany tomorrow!” Although Worth said he wouldn’t change anything and would do it all over again, he wasn’t interested in going back to visit any of his duty stations.  He’d said he’d rather go some place he hasn’t already been even it meant simply filling up the gas tank and just taking off.

Thank you for your service, Worth.

 

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