When I was a kid, my Dad was stationed at Wheelus Air Base, Tripoli, Libya. 1969-1970. Col Chappie James was the commander of the 7272nd Fighter Training Wing at Wheelus Air Base in Libya. It was August of 1969, and Muammar Gadhafi had just successfully overthrown the Libyan king.
The U.S. agreed to turn Wheelus AB over to the Libyans prior to the coup, and James was responsible for the withdrawal. He kept a cool head despite the tensions, which led to a successful and conflict-free drawdown.I remember we went to school six days a week the entire first semester so we wouldn’t fall behind when we left the base. Right after Christmas the base began to close and we were evacuated out.
When it was our turn, we were loaded up on a military transport plane to fly to Italy, but about an hour later, we turned around and went back because our dog was not allowed into Italy until it had been in quarantine for a number of weeks. Col James met the plane himself, took custody of the pup, and promised us 4 kids he would see to it personally that she was delivered to us at our new assignment. Nicest guy.
