Honoring Our Heroes

Col Richard Giordano: Age 92

Col Richard Giordano served 32 years in the U.S. Air Force. His Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) included (1.) Director of Logistics, (2.) Wing Commander, (3.) Aerospace Maintenance Director and (4.) Director of Operations. He received the following medals, badges, citations and campaign ribbons; Legion of Merit with two Devices, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with three Devices, Air Force Commendation Medal with one Device, Air Force Longevity Service Award with six Devices, Service Medal with four Devices, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with three devices and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Col Giordano was born August 2, 1932 to his parents, Vito and Helen Giordano. He graduated from Beacon High School in 1950, and while he was there, he lettered in basketball and golf.

Col Giordano volunteered for military service and entered the U.S. Air

Force in May, 1952. After Basic Training, he was assigned to Craig Air Force Base, AL, where he worked as a crew chief. He was accepted in the Cadet program and completed 15 months at Lackland Air Force Base, TX, followed by training at Goodfellow Air Force Base, TX, and to Greenville Air Force Base, MS, where he completed training and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and received his wings graduating in April 1954. His first assignment was at Turner Air Force Base, GA, for 2.5 years where he flew the single jet fighter, the Republic F-84 Thunderjet, an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. He was then selected for the U-2 Spy plane program. The U-2 was a special high-altitude plane that flew at a ceiling of 70,000 feet. Because the plane flew at such heights, it was thought it would be possible for the planes to pass over the Soviet Union undetected by radar on the ground. He knew and often flew with Fransis Gary Powers who was later shot down over Russia. While at Turner AFB, he was also acquainted with other U-2 pilots. Rudolph Anderson who was later shot down over Cuba during the Cuban crisis and Steve Hyser who personally briefed President Kennedy on the fact that the Cubans did in fact have ICBM missiles. However, he had an accident in a T-33 plane suffering severe burns, and he spent 15 months in military hospitals at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, and at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base where he had plastic surgery. He recovered enough to return to active duty and served as the Executive Officer for the U-2 Squadron Commander at Laughlin Air Force Base, where he got his flying status back on the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) which was an American subsonic jet trainer and a T3A military aircraft that was used by the U.S. Air Force as a light utility transport and liaison plane. Next, he served at Ben Guirir, Morocco, first as the Squadron Commander and then as the Assistant Director of Administrative Services. This base existed to support B-47 bombers as a forward operating base during the Cold War which was a period of global geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1947-1991. He then returned to the U.S.A. and served at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., for four years as a command pilot of the K-C135 Stratotanker, an American military aviation tanker aircraft. Next, he served at Glasgow Air Force Base, MT, as a command pilot of the K-C135 with many TDY flights to U.S. military bases in the Pacific Ocean during the time of the Viet Nam War. He was then deployed to serve at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Base where he continued flying the K-C135. He flew 100 combat missions in southeast Asia during December 1966 and May 1968. He returned to the U.S.A. and served at Offutt Air Force Base, NB, as the Strategic Air Command Operations Controller for three years. While there, he received a B.A. Degree in Economics from the University of Nebraska in 1972. He then deployed to serve three years at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe at Casteau, Belgium, where his assignment for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was to develop a program for an airborne command post. He returned to serve as the Senior Command Operations Controller at Offutt Air Force Base, NB, for two years. He also served as the Director of Maintenance for three kinds of aircraft, the KC-135, RC-135 and C-135. He then served as the Wing Commander for three years at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, for three years. His final assignment was at Lackland Air Force Base, TX, as the Chief of Staff for Logistics for Electronic Security Command. Col Giordano retired there May 31, 1984.

After his military retirement, Col Giordano first worked as the operations officer for East Carolina Trucking at Montgomery, AL, for 3.5 years.

Then he worked with the AL Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) for 10 years. He retired from all employment in 2000 after completing 4,430 flying hours and 538 combat hours.

Col Giordano and his wife, Anita, were married 67 years before she passed away, and they had three children, eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She accompanied him on overseas tours to Morocco, England and Belgium. He belongs to the Daedalians, an organization for military aviators, the Military Officers Association and the Church of the Holy Spirit where he has served as a reader.

Col Giordano’s conclusions about what serving in the U.S. Air Force means to him are, “Serving in the miliary was the best thing that ever happened to me except getting married. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it except for the accident.” He would like to be remembered as someone who was a nice guy who loved people and always put his family first.

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.