00:00:00JASON BEYER: My name is Jason Victor Beyer. I'm a graduate of California State University San Marcos. Today I will be interviewing James Robert Forester II. Today's date is Friday, November 22, 2024. We are located inside the Kellogg Library at California State University San Marcos, located at 333 South Twin Oaks Valley Road, San Marcos, California 92096. My relationship to the interviewee is that we are both military veterans. The names of the people attending this interview are the interviewer, Jason Victor Beyer, the interviewee, James Robert Forster II, Marilyn Huerta, and camera operator, Adel Bautista. Today's purpose of the interview is to conduct an oral history. Please state your full name, first, middle, and last name.
00:01:06JAMES ROBERT FORSTER II: James Robert Forster II.
00:01:09BEYER: Your branch of service.
00:01:10FORSTER: United States Air Force.
00:01:13BEYER: The highest ranked you attained.
00:01:15FORSTER: E5 Staff Sergeant.
00:01:18BEYER: And the war or conflict that you served during your time of service.
00:01:23FORSTER: During Vietnam—actually in Korea, but that was during the Vietnam conflict.
00:01:31BEYER: Thank you. So today we'll begin with your biographical details. Where were you born?
00:01:38FORSTER: Wichita, Kansas.
00:01:40BEYER: What was life like in Wichita, Kansas for you?
00:01:44FORSTER: I attended elementary school till fourth grade, and then we moved from Wichita, Kansas for a job transfer for my father to San Jose, California.
00:01:59BEYER: Does your family have any past affiliations with the military?
00:02:04FORSTER: Yes, my uncle, my father, my grandfather—each of them served in the military.
00:02:11BEYER: Did that play a role in your joining the military?
00:02:16FORSTER: I was a student at West Valley Junior College (West Valley College) and not doing well academically. The draft came around in '67 and my number was high, so rather than be drafted I joined on delayed enlistment into the Air Force so I could get training.
00:02:39BEYER: Did you hold any jobs prior to entering the military service?
00:02:44FORSTER: Yes, I sold shoes for Kenny's Shoe Store and delivered newspapers—those kind of things.
00:02:54BEYER: When and why did you choose to join the military? So you said you weren't drafted, but why specifically did you choose the branch of the Air Force?
00:03:04FORSTER: So I could have aircraft maintenance schooling. I spent nine months in tech school after basic training to learn aircraft maintenance.
00:03:21BEYER: For your early days of service, what is your most vivid memory, both the best and worst parts of training of your time during school in the Air Force.
00:03:33FORSTER: I had to learn different aircraft in their operations—the engine, the airframes. As a crew chief, I was responsible for all of those things to ensure that they worked well. I worked on C-97s, I worked on C-121s, I worked on C-47s, and flew for two years on C-47s as a flight mechanic.
00:04:07BEYER: What was your first assignment like after basic training?
00:04:12FORSTER: I was sent to McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, California, and I was assigned to the Wing Commander of the 552nd Airborne early warning and control wing's squadron commander. So I was a crew chief on that aircraft. It was different than the airborne early warning that the C-121s did for NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), but all we did was make sure that that airplane is ready when the wing commander wanted to go somewhere. So we spent a lot of time cleaning and prepping.
00:04:55BEYER: Do you recall your instructors while you were in training?
00:05:00FORSTER: Not by name.
00:05:03BEYER: Do you recall what they were like?
00:05:05FORSTER: They were demanding, because what we did people's lives depended upon, and they wanted to ensure that we as the airmen understood how important it was for the aircraft to be air worthy and safe for flight. That's what we were taught and instilled in us.
00:05:31BEYER: Did you qualify with equipment such as vehicles, aircraft, radios, weapons? If so, what was that training with that equipment like?
00:05:42FORSTER: We did total—(Forster coughs)—total airframe, from ensuring that the aircraft was ready for flight—it was fueled, it was oiled and it was pre-flighted so that when the pilots came to the aircraft, it was ready to go—as close as it could be.
00:06:19BEYER: Did you receive any promotions, and if so, could you tell me about them?
00:06:25FORSTER: I was promoted to Airman First Class probably when I went—when I was assigned to Korea. That's E4, and you have to pass a test. You have to demonstrate competency on the equipment, understanding of the aircraft system and systems. And then once you've done that test, then the promotion is awarded, but it's not awarded until you've earned it. So each promotion was based on merit.
00:07:11BEYER: What was the hardest part of the military lifestyle for you to adopt to.
00:07:17FORSTER: Unaccompanied tour to Korea.
00:07:21BEYER: Why do you think that was?
00:07:23FORSTER: I just got married in Sacramento, and it was my first time overseas. And, unaccompanied tours are hard on both parties of the relationship. It was—the work in Korea, it has a severe winter and a severe monsoon season in the spring. And operating aircraft under harsh conditions is a challenge all in and of itself.
00:08:07BEYER: So combined with the weather conditions, it created an even harder hardship—
00:08:13FORSTER: Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:16BEYER: What was the easiest part of the military lifestyle for you to adopt to.
00:08:21FORSTER: I liked the hierarchy. You know that the chain of command works and if you follow the chain of command that everything will go smooth.
00:08:36BEYER: What were your interactions like with people you encountered while you were doing your stateside service?
00:08:46FORSTER: Each of the NCOs (non-commissioned officers) that were teaching the aircraft maintenance and the specifics of it were concerned about the airman's capability of teaching and learning complex systems and working within a framework to make the aircraft airworthy. And I took that extremely seriously. There were times when the aircraft was not ready to go. And in aircraft maintenance records, you can red "x" it if there's a safety issue. I did—had a full bird colonel in Korea who wanted to take my airplane for some kind of flight. I told him, "Sir, you cannot take this airplane. It's grounded." And I—the reasons for it were in the aircraft maintenance records. He said, "Well, I wanna take it." And I said, "Fine, let's go to the wing commander. We'll go to the wing commander, and if you can convince him that you can take this aircraft, then it's safe even though I told you it's not safe—you go right ahead." He did not go to the wing commander. (Forster coughs.) Excuse me.
00:10:15BEYER: So you served in Korea during while the Vietnam War was happening?
00:10:21FORSTER: Yes. The Navy lost a ship called the Pueblo in the North China Sea. And the military was staffed by the Air National Guard. So I was part of the replenishment of relieving the Air National Guard from Korea so they could go back to their jobs in industry. I met pilots from Frontier Airlines, Braniff Airlines, American Airlines, Transamerica—and that's why I went to Korea. I didn't realize at the time that it was a blessing that I was sent to Korea rather than to Vietnam, because my aircraft in Vietnam had a name called Spooky. It was mounted with a Gatling gun, a .50 caliber machine gun, and a spotlight in the back cargo door, and it flew night missions only after Agent Orange had been defoliated. I didn't know at the time that I had a much better position—job position—than, you know, just—I was just flying passengers and mail from Osan to Kunsan to Gwangju to Daegu, like an airliner route. So we did that in the morning and had lunch in Daegu and then flew back in the afternoon. That was basically what we did. But, you know, I didn't realize, like I said before, that the—(Forster coughs)—duty in Korea, while harsh—(coughs)—was way different than what I would've experienced had I've been sent to Vietnam with all my other fellow aircraft mechanics.
00:12:29BEYER: What was your—did you create any friendships or camaraderie with people that you served with while in Korea?
00:12:39FORSTER: Yes. Each person you get to be friends with and you learn who's friendly, you know? And the senior NCOs were really good. We had a crew of flight engineers, or flight mechanics, who—they were called—we were called the Bush Airline. And I gave you a copy of the article that was in the Air Force Times, talking about the Bush Airline. We just talked about the mission that we did in Korea, and, um (long pause)—
00:13:31BEYER: —Um—
00:13:32FORSTER: —I just drew blank. Go ahead. Ask me another question—
00:13:34BEYER: —No worries. What did you do for recreation or when you were off duty?
00:13:40FORSTER: Oh! In our barracks, we had a day room, and we set up a bar in that day room. And that picture that I gave you—of me with the Olympia beer can—I was helping run the bar in the barracks. So whenever we were not flying and not scheduled to work, we were able to drink right there. We didn't have to go to the Airman's Club. We had our own thing, and we stocked it with beer, and that's that kind of thing. It was an off duty place to recreate, I guess. Some of the guys went to Taekwondo, some of us just did other odd activities.
00:14:34BEYER: Do you recall any particularly humorous or unusual events during your off time?
00:14:40FORSTER: Well, there were so many amazing events at the bar. You know, you have to send people home—say, No, you have to go to your bunk. You can't stay here anymore (Forster laughs). But we had a Korean houseboy who took care of the common areas, and he took care of our bar. And he says, "You keep it clean" (Forster mimics accents, Beyer and Forster laugh).
00:15:09BEYER: When you would fly on missions or in the aircraft, was there anything that you did for good luck while you were—before or after the flight? Or did it just become common that—
00:15:23FORSTER: —It's common. You do the pre-flight, you ensure that the aircraft is capable, and then you just go. We did have in-flight emergencies on several occasions. One time we were flying over Japan at Mount Fujiyama, and the wind was really severe. And the aircraft that—C-47 doesn't fly very fast. Maybe a hundred knots. You know, it's not much more than a hundred knots. And the winds were 80 knots, so we weren't making much ground speed. And the aircraft—you're flying at 10,000 feet, and at the top ceiling, and the mountain is higher than where you're flying. And when we landed in Tokyo, that particular flight, I dipped the tanks and we had, like, a very small amount of fuel. I don't know the exact amount, but it was almost out of fuel. So, but that was a severe winter and severe storm, and we flew right through it.
00:16:47BEYER: So, what were your interactions like with the local cultures and the people you encountered while you were in Japan; Okinawa, Japan; or in Korea?
00:17:03FORSTER: The local people were great. Let's see, we'll talk about—in Japan, they brought us—the base flight brought us our fuel, our oil, our in-flight meals. And they're real accommodating, you know? Whatever you want—they bring you hot coffee, whatever, out to the flight line. In Okinawa, we—because I was flying people and over water, you had to go to Sea Survival School. So I was at Sea Survival School in Okinawa at Kadena Air Base. They—(Forster coughs, long pause). When the Sea Survival School was going on, part of it was we were dropped in the ocean in one-man life rafts. And the shark repellent is discharged around your life rafts, and you're left there for, I think it was eight hours—it seemed like forever. But the most important part about that is I was able to observe aircraft operations from Kadena Air Base. They were flying missions to Vietnam from Kadena. I saw an SR-71, which the military never admitted existed until recently. If you wanna see an SR-71, you have to go to the aerospace museum. That's where one is available for you to see. But they would—it just had two tails, and they would bring it out of the revetment, and bring (it) to the end of the runway. And they did very little run up time. They didn't want anybody to be able to see that aircraft, because obviously they didn't want it to be known that it existed. So they do—(Forster coughs)—a short run up, and then take off and stand it on its tail. And it was out of sight—less than a minute, just gone. And I found out later that those were flying bombing runs to Vietnam. (Forster coughs.) So then, another time—that was the Sea Survival School. Another time we went to pick up an airplane from the Second Chinese Air Force I.R.A.N. (Inspect and Repair As Necessary). It's done in Taipei, Taichung—or "Taichay," Taichung—but Taipei. Anyhow, the Second Chinese Air Force did extensive overhauls for military aircraft. When we flew in there, we went in to pick up one C-47. That was not a gunship, just one of ours. And I saw a whole line of C-47 gunships, C-119 gunships, and C-130 gunships that's a sign that the Second Chinese Air Force was doing—it's a major overhaul. They take everything off of the engine, they—engines off—and then they put it back together, and they have really high maintenance standards. When we got the engine and engine runup after it came out of the inspection, there was no oil leaks on—a recip (reciprocating) engine is notorious for a lot of oil leaks, not a little bit, but it is always leaking something somewhere. And the Second Chinese Air Force did such a good job that we had clean engines—when brought it up, opened the cowling up, was clean. Our engine people rarely did work that good. You know, so I have a great deal of respect for the people from the maintenance facility at the Second Chinese Air Force.
00:21:55BEYER: Do you recall the day your service ended? Where were you when your service ended?
00:22:02FORSTER: I was at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, getting an "early out" to go to school. I drove cross country from MacDill Air Force Base back to San Jose, California.
00:22:20BEYER: So you returned home?
00:22:21FORSTER: I returned to my parents' house, yeah.
00:22:25BEYER: How were you received by your family and community when you—
00:22:28FORSTER: —By my family, fine. By the community and not for (redacted)—excuse my language. I have a tendency to be pretty frank. There was no welcome for the returning veteran. None. You know, it was at the height of the Vietnam War, the protests were going on, and I was going back to college, and I ended up in a sociology class called, Introduction to Marriage and Family. That was the only class that I could register for. And, having gone through a messy divorce while I was in the service, I was not a real joiner. You know, I was good time guy, but I didn't want anything to do with serious things. And, I ended up with—the marriage and family instructor had the class divided into groups, and they had one group with six women and me, and I ended up in that group and met my wife there. We will be married 52 years on December 9th. So, it stuck.
00:23:54BEYER: How did you readjust to civilian life? Did you go back to work? You said you went to school. What did you do after school?
00:24:03FORSTER: I worked for an insurance company for like almost 10 years. I trained insurance agents. And then I went into my own insurance agency. I had a Farmers Insurance agency for 10 years.
00:24:24BEYER: Did the GI Bill affect you while you were going to school? Did that help you go to—
00:24:28FORSTER: —Yeah—
00:24:28BEYER: —school?
00:24:28FORSTER: Yeah. Yeah, I went to National University, completed my—what was left of my VA, and completed my MBA on the GI Bill. That was what, '78?
00:24:44BEYER: Did you continue any friendships after this service, and if so, for how long?
00:24:50FORSTER: One of my friends is still in Portland, and I've lost track with almost everybody else.
00:25:04BEYER: Did you join any veterans organizations?
00:25:07FORSTER: I joined the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars). But when the VFW couldn't seem to get their act together, and they couldn't decide whether I was an Army veteran or an Air Force veteran, I stopped doing business with them (Forster laughs). I said, If you don't know who I am or where I come from, I don't need to be here paying you dues (laughs).
00:25:32BEYER: How has your service impacted your life, your community, your faith, and your family?
00:25:41FORSTER: That's—that's a big bunch (laughs). My service affected my life. I always had strong beliefs. I was fortunate enough to meet a strong woman who was able to help me in my shortcomings. We raised two kids together, one of which graduated from here (CSU San Marcos) in 2005. The other son is a tax auditor for the city of San Diego. And, we travel together. We were just recently on a Sapphire Princess Cruise to the Caribbean. We had a ten day cruise, and then we went two days to Disney World. And the kids are really important, and we just—our first granddaughter was born during COVID time. She's five years old, and she just started private school in El Cajon. I don't know if she'll ever go to a public school again. But—
00:27:09BEYER: What are some life lessons you learned from your military service.
00:27:15FORSTER: About, your word is your bond. You need to be accountable for the things that you say, and you need to stand by your words and be complete with everyone that you deal with.
00:27:36BEYER: What message would you like to leave for future generations who will view or hear this interview?
00:27:46FORSTER: I would like everyone to realize that when you go into the military or you go into an unfamiliar situation and you go with an open mind and an open heart, you're going to learn things that may not be in the book. They may not be—(Forster coughs)—what you think you should be, but you need to listen to your heart, I guess. But you need to learn from people who offer their knowledge. And it may not always make sense. It's important to be open to new opportunities and apply yourself.
00:28:42BEYER: Thank you for taking the time to share your recollections of your military service. Is there anything you've always wanted to share about your service or veteran experience that you never had before?
00:28:58FORSTER: No, I don't think so.
00:29:01BEYER: What do you wish more people knew about veterans?
00:29:05FORSTER: That they are people who have the same wants and aspirations as you do, but have chosen to go into the service for whatever reason they go there. But they end up benefiting much more than they expected because you learn from life experiences, you learn from positive experiences. In the Air Force, I didn't get to see a lot of the world, but I did see a lot more than most people do. You know, in my experiences of going to Korea, or going to Okinawa, or to Taipei to the overall facility. All of those are learning experiences, and each one you meet people who are really important to the operation, to the aircraft, to the people. And they have a tendency to consider that it's important that you understand the reasons why you're doing something as well as doing it well.
00:30:29BEYER: In your unveiling of the journey, what are the lessons learned from your military experience?
00:30:36FORSTER: There are so, so many. You know, I just, I learned a skill that I did not know before I went in. It could have taken a job—a job, um, what I wanna say—a job, uh, United Airlines—I was offered a job when I came back from the Air Force. One of my friends, my parents' neighbors was a corporate attorney for United Airlines. And he says, We can send you to Chicago to our maintenance facility. You can be an aircraft mechanic there. And I just met my wife and I said, My desire to work in harsh environments again is not something I wanna do (Forster laughs, coughs). So I turned him down, and I ended going into the insurance business.
00:31:43BEYER: Thank you for your time today.
00:31:45FORSTER: Thank you.
