MSGT. George Hannold
U.S. Air Force – Water Treatment Sanitation Technician
36th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Bitburg, Germany, Hahn, Germany
1960-1986
U.S. Air Force – Water Treatment Sanitation Technician
36th Tactical Fighter Squadron
Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Bitburg, Germany, Hahn, Germany
1960-1986
George Hannold was born in Hammat Hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania on August 28th, 1940. George was the fifth of five boys and two girls. George’s mother died during childbirth having her seventh baby. She died a young woman, “in her late thirties or early forties”. George’s father was serving in the European theater during WWII at the time she passed away.
“We didn’t have child services or anything like that”. The county was responsible for the care of the children, and the initial plan was to separate all of the children with different foster families. Luckily, the county was able to contact a family that lived on a farm in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. The couple didn’t have any children and decided they would take the entire family. On a farm the three older boys worked outside doing farm chores and the girls and George handled the inside housework.
“The husband got sick, and they couldn’t handle the farm anymore”. This forced the family to move to Fourth Street in Erie, Pennsylvania where they lived on the second floor of a two-family house they bought with the proceeds of the farm. The family rented out the first floor to supplement their income. George lived a good life. There was a town pool, lots of kids to play with and on Saturdays they would go to the movies. “We were given a quarter…it was a dime to go to the movies” leaving some money to spend at the concessions. “It was fun ‘cause all the gang would get together and go…we would watch serials like the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers”.
“The husband started getting sick again” and the couple could no longer take care of the children. George and his younger brother went to stay with their aunt on their mother’s side. But shortly after they arrived, she learned she was pregnant with twins, and they did not have the financial wherewithal to provide for four children. George and his brother were sent to the Sarah Reed Children’s Home in Erie. George was about nine at this time. The County had George, and his brother take a test to see if they would qualify for the Milton Hershy School for Boys. The brothers qualified and after a year and a half they headed to the Milton Hershey School.
The Milton Hershey School was established in 1909 by Milton Hershey and his wife. Milton Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company, headquartered in Hershey, PA. The first class started at the school in 1910 and consisted of four boys. The Hershey School was an all-boys school for orphans at the time George and his brother attended. It was a great environment for the boys who attended classes, participated in sports and work on the farm located on the school property. “I was 10 years old going on 11…so I went to one of the farms. We worked on the farms, milked the cows…in the summertime we pitched hay” and ground corn that was stored in the barn silos. One of George’s jobs was to climb 60 feet up into the silo and shovel the corn down into a cart below and then feed it to the cows. “One scoop per cow”. George also played on the intermural baseball team. “I wasn’t a bad fielder. I couldn’t hit worth a damn”. He also played basketball and was a member of the choir.
The boys were given the choice of taking a college preparatory curriculum or a trades curriculum. George chose carpentry. “I did that for three years and we helped build two homes”. George wasn’t particularly suited to carpentry and “when I graduated, I had no prospects whatsoever”.
George graduated in 1958 and landed a job as a bus boy at the Hershey Hotel. “I got regular wages and tips. I made a lot of money…for that time”. George bought a 1948 Ford coup for $125 and went to visit the family he lived with in Erie. He stayed with them and found a job working with the Welch’s Grape Juice company. From there he went to live with his sister and brother-in-law in Fredonia, NY. He worked with a contractor for a while as a carpenter. “I didn’t know what the hell I was doing”. “That’s when I decided I should join the service” in early 1960. George had two brothers in the Air Force, so he followed in their footstep.
George headed off to the induction center in Pittsburgh. He passed all of the tests with flying colors, but when he took his physical, he weighed only 124 lbs. The minimum weight was 125 lbs. The Sargeant saw his weight and began yelling and screaming about how the recruiters should have sent someone that didn’t meet the weight requirement. The Lieutenant came out of his office to see what the commotion was, he looked at George’s chart, looked at the Sargeant, and the next thing George knew he was boarding a bus to the airport for a flight to Lackland Air Force base for basic training.
It was May of 1960 and the barracks were still the same wooden structures from World War II. “In the middle of June and early July it’s over 100 degrees down there in Texas”. There were some days it was too hot to march or do PT outside “so we would have classroom work”. When the weather cooperated, there was PT in the morning, boxing, climbing cargo nets and learning lots of military procedures, tactics and techniques.
In July 1960 George and his class graduated. At graduation the class was split into two groups. One group was going to Fire Department training, and the other half was going to Police School. “I didn’t want any part of either of those”. George lucked out when he and another airman were told they would be going to waste water treatment school at Stewart Air force Base in New York State. “At that time, that was an Air Defense Command Base. They had this huge concrete building containing all of the radar units for the whole northeast”. George learned how to treat water and sewage along with pest control and vegetation control. In Early 1962 George reported to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
At Clark Air Base he was responsible for maintaining the water quality and the filters for the four swimming pools on the base. One day George was summoned to Personnel, and he was told they needed to send someone to Vietnam. ‘You’re elected’, he was told. “This was 1962. There were no bases. Nothing really. We had military personnel”. George’s unit was charged with preparing the ground on a portion of the Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon, to be a U.S. military base.
George was responsible for keeping three 3,000-gallon water tanks filled with water and ensure the water was filtered so the troops could shower, and shave and the mess hall had clean water to cook. In the evenings George sprayed for mosquitos to prevent any malaria outbreaks. He was supposed to be in Vietnam for three months but due to a paperwork snafu he was there for seven months.
When George returned to the Philippines he started a relationship with a local girl, Norma, which led to marriage in early 1964. Some time passed and George received orders to return to the states. By this time Norma was pregnant, and they packed their belongings and returned to the states.
When they arrived, George and Norma bought a car and packed their things and reported to Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine. This was a Strategic Air Command Base. George was “promoted to Airman First Class, which was three stripes”. In 1966 George received orders to report to Thailand. This was considered a war zone so Norma would not be able to come along. George got Norma settled back in the Philippines and he headed off to the NKP Air Base in the far northeastern corner of Thailand “which is right across the river from North Vietnam”.
George was in Thailand for eight months. There he managed the water plant on the base. By this time the Vietnam war had begun, and the U.S. was flying bombing missions into North Vietnam. The main mission for that base was rescue missions for downed U.S. pilots.
In early ’67 George received orders to return to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. By this time, he had reached the rank of Staff Sargeant. In 1968 George returned to the U.S. where he did tours in Florida as a Sanitation and Water Engineer. In 1971 George received orders to Hahn Air Base in Germany. George’s wife did not want to go and that ultimately put the marriage on track for divorce.
Hahn Air Base was located just outside of Hahn Germany near the Hunsruck Mountains. George was a Staff Sargeant and the Sanitation Supervisor. The water supply for the base came from streams in the mountains and the Germans had built a series of filtration systems in the mountains to purify the water. “Every morning, we had to go through the mountains and check all of the filters…we had three or four up there. I got to go on a couple of trips up through the hills and mountains and we would see some old German bunkers” from WWII. George also ran across the “dragon’s teeth” the Germans deployed along the Sigried Line. These were concrete pyramid shaped structures meant to stop Allied tanks.
George spent 18 months in Germany and there he met his second wife, Erica. “She lived in the Black Forest area of southern Germany where they made cuckoo clocks”. Her father was a teacher and a former member of the Wehrmacht. The couple married in Germany just before George was to report back to the states. Erica was torn between coming to see the U.S. and leaving her family. In the end she took the leap.
George was stationed in Sacramento, California and was promoted to Technical Sargeant. By May of 1980 Erica missed her parents and George volunteered to return to Germany. George was stationed at Bitburg Air Base with the 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron. George was a Technical Sargeant and responsible for managing the water and sewage treatment plants. George was promoted to Master Sargeant and by 1985 he decided it was time to retire. The Air Force told him he needed to return to the U.S. to retire, so he and Erica packed their belongings and headed back to the states.
George and Erica returned to Shute Air Base just outside of Chicago and after nine months George retired after 26 years of service. George’s brother told him that Pratt & Whiteny (PW) was hiring pipe fitters at one of their plants in Connecticut. George was hired and worked on a variety of plumbing related projects while at P&W. After P&W, George worked for Pinkertons, Securitas and American Protective Services as the Security Supervisor.
After 26 years George ended his military career with the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal and two Vietnam Service Metals just to name a few.
Thank you, George, for traveling the world and keeping the water safe for the U.S. men and women serving our country. It’s not a glamorous job but if you weren’t there to do it, everyone would have missed you.
“We didn’t have child services or anything like that”. The county was responsible for the care of the children, and the initial plan was to separate all of the children with different foster families. Luckily, the county was able to contact a family that lived on a farm in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. The couple didn’t have any children and decided they would take the entire family. On a farm the three older boys worked outside doing farm chores and the girls and George handled the inside housework.
“The husband got sick, and they couldn’t handle the farm anymore”. This forced the family to move to Fourth Street in Erie, Pennsylvania where they lived on the second floor of a two-family house they bought with the proceeds of the farm. The family rented out the first floor to supplement their income. George lived a good life. There was a town pool, lots of kids to play with and on Saturdays they would go to the movies. “We were given a quarter…it was a dime to go to the movies” leaving some money to spend at the concessions. “It was fun ‘cause all the gang would get together and go…we would watch serials like the Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers”.
“The husband started getting sick again” and the couple could no longer take care of the children. George and his younger brother went to stay with their aunt on their mother’s side. But shortly after they arrived, she learned she was pregnant with twins, and they did not have the financial wherewithal to provide for four children. George and his brother were sent to the Sarah Reed Children’s Home in Erie. George was about nine at this time. The County had George, and his brother take a test to see if they would qualify for the Milton Hershy School for Boys. The brothers qualified and after a year and a half they headed to the Milton Hershey School.
The Milton Hershey School was established in 1909 by Milton Hershey and his wife. Milton Hershey founded the Hershey Chocolate Company, headquartered in Hershey, PA. The first class started at the school in 1910 and consisted of four boys. The Hershey School was an all-boys school for orphans at the time George and his brother attended. It was a great environment for the boys who attended classes, participated in sports and work on the farm located on the school property. “I was 10 years old going on 11…so I went to one of the farms. We worked on the farms, milked the cows…in the summertime we pitched hay” and ground corn that was stored in the barn silos. One of George’s jobs was to climb 60 feet up into the silo and shovel the corn down into a cart below and then feed it to the cows. “One scoop per cow”. George also played on the intermural baseball team. “I wasn’t a bad fielder. I couldn’t hit worth a damn”. He also played basketball and was a member of the choir.
The boys were given the choice of taking a college preparatory curriculum or a trades curriculum. George chose carpentry. “I did that for three years and we helped build two homes”. George wasn’t particularly suited to carpentry and “when I graduated, I had no prospects whatsoever”.
George graduated in 1958 and landed a job as a bus boy at the Hershey Hotel. “I got regular wages and tips. I made a lot of money…for that time”. George bought a 1948 Ford coup for $125 and went to visit the family he lived with in Erie. He stayed with them and found a job working with the Welch’s Grape Juice company. From there he went to live with his sister and brother-in-law in Fredonia, NY. He worked with a contractor for a while as a carpenter. “I didn’t know what the hell I was doing”. “That’s when I decided I should join the service” in early 1960. George had two brothers in the Air Force, so he followed in their footstep.
George headed off to the induction center in Pittsburgh. He passed all of the tests with flying colors, but when he took his physical, he weighed only 124 lbs. The minimum weight was 125 lbs. The Sargeant saw his weight and began yelling and screaming about how the recruiters should have sent someone that didn’t meet the weight requirement. The Lieutenant came out of his office to see what the commotion was, he looked at George’s chart, looked at the Sargeant, and the next thing George knew he was boarding a bus to the airport for a flight to Lackland Air Force base for basic training.
It was May of 1960 and the barracks were still the same wooden structures from World War II. “In the middle of June and early July it’s over 100 degrees down there in Texas”. There were some days it was too hot to march or do PT outside “so we would have classroom work”. When the weather cooperated, there was PT in the morning, boxing, climbing cargo nets and learning lots of military procedures, tactics and techniques.
In July 1960 George and his class graduated. At graduation the class was split into two groups. One group was going to Fire Department training, and the other half was going to Police School. “I didn’t want any part of either of those”. George lucked out when he and another airman were told they would be going to waste water treatment school at Stewart Air force Base in New York State. “At that time, that was an Air Defense Command Base. They had this huge concrete building containing all of the radar units for the whole northeast”. George learned how to treat water and sewage along with pest control and vegetation control. In Early 1962 George reported to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.
At Clark Air Base he was responsible for maintaining the water quality and the filters for the four swimming pools on the base. One day George was summoned to Personnel, and he was told they needed to send someone to Vietnam. ‘You’re elected’, he was told. “This was 1962. There were no bases. Nothing really. We had military personnel”. George’s unit was charged with preparing the ground on a portion of the Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon, to be a U.S. military base.
George was responsible for keeping three 3,000-gallon water tanks filled with water and ensure the water was filtered so the troops could shower, and shave and the mess hall had clean water to cook. In the evenings George sprayed for mosquitos to prevent any malaria outbreaks. He was supposed to be in Vietnam for three months but due to a paperwork snafu he was there for seven months.
When George returned to the Philippines he started a relationship with a local girl, Norma, which led to marriage in early 1964. Some time passed and George received orders to return to the states. By this time Norma was pregnant, and they packed their belongings and returned to the states.
When they arrived, George and Norma bought a car and packed their things and reported to Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine. This was a Strategic Air Command Base. George was “promoted to Airman First Class, which was three stripes”. In 1966 George received orders to report to Thailand. This was considered a war zone so Norma would not be able to come along. George got Norma settled back in the Philippines and he headed off to the NKP Air Base in the far northeastern corner of Thailand “which is right across the river from North Vietnam”.
George was in Thailand for eight months. There he managed the water plant on the base. By this time the Vietnam war had begun, and the U.S. was flying bombing missions into North Vietnam. The main mission for that base was rescue missions for downed U.S. pilots.
In early ’67 George received orders to return to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. By this time, he had reached the rank of Staff Sargeant. In 1968 George returned to the U.S. where he did tours in Florida as a Sanitation and Water Engineer. In 1971 George received orders to Hahn Air Base in Germany. George’s wife did not want to go and that ultimately put the marriage on track for divorce.
Hahn Air Base was located just outside of Hahn Germany near the Hunsruck Mountains. George was a Staff Sargeant and the Sanitation Supervisor. The water supply for the base came from streams in the mountains and the Germans had built a series of filtration systems in the mountains to purify the water. “Every morning, we had to go through the mountains and check all of the filters…we had three or four up there. I got to go on a couple of trips up through the hills and mountains and we would see some old German bunkers” from WWII. George also ran across the “dragon’s teeth” the Germans deployed along the Sigried Line. These were concrete pyramid shaped structures meant to stop Allied tanks.
George spent 18 months in Germany and there he met his second wife, Erica. “She lived in the Black Forest area of southern Germany where they made cuckoo clocks”. Her father was a teacher and a former member of the Wehrmacht. The couple married in Germany just before George was to report back to the states. Erica was torn between coming to see the U.S. and leaving her family. In the end she took the leap.
George was stationed in Sacramento, California and was promoted to Technical Sargeant. By May of 1980 Erica missed her parents and George volunteered to return to Germany. George was stationed at Bitburg Air Base with the 36th Tactical Fighter Squadron. George was a Technical Sargeant and responsible for managing the water and sewage treatment plants. George was promoted to Master Sargeant and by 1985 he decided it was time to retire. The Air Force told him he needed to return to the U.S. to retire, so he and Erica packed their belongings and headed back to the states.
George and Erica returned to Shute Air Base just outside of Chicago and after nine months George retired after 26 years of service. George’s brother told him that Pratt & Whiteny (PW) was hiring pipe fitters at one of their plants in Connecticut. George was hired and worked on a variety of plumbing related projects while at P&W. After P&W, George worked for Pinkertons, Securitas and American Protective Services as the Security Supervisor.
After 26 years George ended his military career with the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal and two Vietnam Service Metals just to name a few.
Thank you, George, for traveling the world and keeping the water safe for the U.S. men and women serving our country. It’s not a glamorous job but if you weren’t there to do it, everyone would have missed you.