TWO RIVERS, Wis. (WFRV) – Howard Havlicheck was 19 years old when he decided to join the service.
When it came to what branch he wanted to join, there was only one idea on his mind.
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“I didn’t care to swim, and I didn’t want to walk. And I heard that the service gave four years of college for three years of service. So what the hell? What’s the easiest way of getting an education?”
After joining the Army, he didn’t get the job he wanted, so he moved to the Air Force.
That’s where he began learning about military aircraft.
“Engines, props, hydraulics, electronics, armament, sheet metal, and consequently was thrown in to learn a mobile training unit. And we went down to the University of Washington for a six-week class.”
Havlicheck got his first assignment, to Kearny, Nebraska.
“‘Are you sure that’s where you want to go?’ I said, ‘That’s where my orders are needed. I better be there by 8:00.’ As we pulled up to the gate, the guard house, the door was ajar. Windows are broken. The fences are filled with tumbleweed. I thought, ‘What? What the hell am I getting into?’ You know, it’s a strange feeling.”
When in Kearney, Havlicheck witnessed the Blizzard of 1948 into 1949, where most of the time was spent shoveling snow off the planes.
“We were still digging the plane out of six- and eight-foot snow. You know, truth, that was so cold. We would have to put shrouds over the engine and, with salamanders — gas burners — heat them before we could start.”
After his three years of service, Howard got a job with Hamilton Dryers as a field representative.
Then it was back home to Two Rivers after he retired, and he has since joined the American Legion post.
Enjoying the camaraderie and a night out that the legion provides is what keeps him going.
“I enjoy their camaraderie. I never knew everybody was with somebody. You know, you don’t have a problem with somebody having their nose in the air. I enjoy being out for the broad groups that we have.”
Now 98 years old, Howard Havlicheck looks back at his time in the service, grateful for a time in his life that shaped him into the man he is today.
“As a kid, it was a hell of an experience, very enjoyable, and I would do it all over again if I could do it the same way I did it.”
