VETERANS VOICE: Kenneth Raffety

Ken Raffety of Cameron, was born and grew up in Carrollton, Mo. He grew up on a farm and with 25 cows to milk by hand, he learned about hard work at an early age.

Ken and his wife, Arbath, were married just short of 61 years. Sadly, she passed away in January of this year, creating a huge void in his life.    

Ken joined the United States Air Force in 1950. He took basic training at Lackland AFB in Texas which Ken remembers as “windy and dusty”. From Lackland he went to Lowry AFB in Denver. The original intent was for him to train as a gunner on a bomber, but it was about that time the Air Force stopped using gunners in their bombers. Instead Ken trained in armaments, arming weapons aboard fighters and bombers.

He was then assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing, stationed in Neubiberg, Germany. Ken was in the 527th Squadron. The 86th was part of the occupation-defense plan for Europe, and a deterrent to growing Soviet power.

Initially the planes used by the 86th were P-47’s used in WW2. They were propeller planes powered by a Pratt & Whitney 2800 Double Wasp Engine. The “P” stood for “Pursuit”.

In 1950 the Air Force realized the intensity of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The Soviets had already switched to the M-15 fighter jets and the government realized they needed to upgrade to jets to combat the Soviet threat.

In early 1950, 91 F84-E Fighter-Bombers were sent to the 86th in Germany. The “P” designation was changed to “F” for “fighter”. The F84-E Thunderjet was a turbo jet made by Republic Aviation. The plane was a jet and quite different from the P-47’s. Unfortunately, the training switch from between the two planes was primarily “on-the-job” training. Pilots used every opportunity to fly the new plane and learn their operation. Unfortunately, a number of planes were lost to accidents during the training aspect.

It did, however, serve the purpose of being a deterrent to the Soviets. Ken’s job and responsibility was arming the planes prior to flight. The F84-E had six .50 caliber machine guns, 5-inch HVAR ( high velocity aircraft rockets), and could carry 2000 pounds of conventional bombs or 1 Mark 7 Nuclear bomb. Ken’s unit was responsible for the arming and performance of armaments.

In addition to Germany, Ken was able to participate in a mission to Tripoli when the aircraft developed problems while still over ocean. Fortunately the crew was able to overcome the problem, much to Ken’s relief. He had no desire to parachute into the ocean!

Ken said that the camaraderie with pilots and others was a pleasant aspect of this tour of duty. Ken often served as the “designated driver” for some of the pilots in their wanderings throughout Germany, including many of the ski resorts. Ken described Germany as a beautiful country and the town of Neubiberg was a pleasant place to spend time.

He also enjoyed trips to Paris where he was impressed with the Eifel Tower. One of the pilots was the son of Claire Lee Chennault, leader of the famed Flying Tigers during WW2. He said there was quite a bit of “down” time which provided an opportunity to sightsee and visit many memorable places.

Ken’s best memories of the service is the “many good people” he came across in his career. He said that the relationship with pilots was particularly good as they relied heavily on the proper installation and loading of armaments. 

Ken left the Air Force as a Sergeant, then entered the Reserves were he obtained the rank of Staff Sergeant. During his military career Ken had to opportunity to play both football and do some boxing. He was a good athlete.

After the military, Ken returned to Carrollton. He opened a meat market in Norborne (MO) while selling insurance part-time. He eventually got into the Savings and Loan business in Hardin  (MO) where he had the opportunity to meet Jim Pickett of Cameron who offered him the job of operating Cameron Savings & Loan.

Ken was a sports referee for many years in the State of Missouri. He officiated at both high school and college games. He really enjoyed working as a referee as it kept him close to the sports he loved. He wasn’t bothered if he made a call which made fans unhappy because he was confident in his ability and feels he got far more calls correct than he missed. The downside of being a referee is the travel involved. He might have a game in Kansas City one night, and one the next afternoon in Springfield. But he loved every game, knew a lot of fine coaches, and watched a lot of young talent develop.

Ken is a man who likes people, and says he has met “lots of great people” over the years. He misses his wife terribly, but overall feels he has had a great life and has a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction with his life. 

 

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