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'Bucketlister' checks off visit to Fairchild

  • Published
  • By Scott King
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  A former B-36 gunner, who was stationed here from 1952 to 1955, was provided an impromptu tour of the base Aug. 2, getting one step closer to completing his "Bucket List."

Jack Werth, an 82-year-old from Indiana, and his wife Connie flew to Spokane last week with the sole purpose of visiting Fairchild to reminisce about his time spent here.

They were shown the entire base with stops at Heritage Air Park and Hangar 2 (where he used to work). Things now were a lot different to him than back in the 1950s.

"Touring the base was kind of bittersweet for me," Werth said. "So many of the buildings I knew by heart were gone, replaced by new ones like base housing and the dormitories. It was like going to visit your old house and it's gone."

The highlight of his day was receiving a personal tour of Hangar 2 provided by 1st Lt. Sarina Goings from the 92nd Maintenance Group.

"I was in awe while walking around the place I spent so much of my time," Werth said. "I remember painting murals by the coffee shop in the hangar - that was the heart of operations for me and it was an incredible tour."

Werth enjoyed his time in the Air Force. His best memories were the deployments he went on. He also said he loved flying. When they took the B-36s on a mission, they were in the air for 24 hours. He explained the hours spent on the B-36 gave him a whole new perspective on life.

While at Fairchild, Werth deployed to Guam, Wake Island and Hawaii. He also received his gunnery training at Fairchild. After the Air Force removed guns from the B-36, he received training to become an aircraft electrician. Werth decided to get out of the Air Force as a staff sergeant after his four years because General Motors was holding a job for him in Indianapolis, Ind. He said if he could do it over again, he would have stayed in for his 20 years.

His wife was also grateful for the base tour.

"He has been talking about this for months now," she said. "On the airplane trip to Spokane, he was telling other travelers about re-visiting his past and seeing the base. As his wife of 47 years, I can tell you the time he spent in the Air Force helped shape the man he is today - touring the base was at the very top of his bucket list and an answer to his prayers."