Turning Final, A Life Complete

Jim was born in the Red hook section of Brooklyn, New York, during the Great Depression. His father who is in the Merchant Marine abandons him and his mother not long after Jim is born. His mother remarries an Army Sergeant who brings Jim up as his own son and exposes him to the military life. After starting school in the Panama Canal Zone and graduating from High School in Yokohama, Japan, Jim's real life adventure begins when he joins the Merchant Marine for a short stint and then enlists in the Air Force. After passing grueling tests he enters the Air Force Pilot Training program graduating as a Jet Fighter Pilot with his first tour of duty in France and a flying mission that covers all of Europe, the Near East and Africa. After a four year job instructing SAC Crews in Aerial Refueling he is selected for a highly classified job which he discloses in "Turning Final." With a tour in Vietnam that includes flights to Katmandu, Nepal and Hong Kong he completes his Air Force career with a tour at Colorado Springs and then as a Squadron Commader at Key West, Florida. His next adventure is with a small Airline Flying DC-3's out of Key West then as a Corporate Pilot in Santa Rosa, California while at the same time running ferry boats in San Francisco Bay. The lure of the islands attracts him and he accepts the position of Aviation Manager at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands. Kwajalein Lagoon, the worlds largest lagoon is the splashdown point for reentry vehicles from missiles fired from Vandenberg AFB and other locations. Kwajalein Island, three and one half miles long and one half mile wide, is the southernmost island in the Kwajalein Lagoon. As the Aviation Manager, Jim is responsible for all flying activity on the range and comes up with a solution to recover a missile that lands in the open ocean 200 miles north of the lagoon. Having been bitten by the sailing bug in Japan and Key West, Jim and his wife Colleen buy Landfall, a 40' sailboat, in Hawaii and keep it at Kwajalein, sailing to the uninhabited islands in the lagoon. After 6 years on Kwajalein, Jim and three friends sail Landfall to Tokyo, Japan getting embroiled in a typhoon 200 miles south of Tokyo. Jim then becomes a full time Captain in Ferry Boats in San Francisco Bay while flying part time for his previous corporation. When, several years later, he is offered the job of Marine Manager at the Kwajalein Missile Range, the life style and lure of the islands is just too great and they return to Kwajalein. In 1998 Jim retires from his exciting life and records the years of adventure in his memoirs for all to share and enjoy.