U Oughta

U OUGHTA is the true life story of a Slovenian immigrants son (Bill) who was born during the roaring 20's Prohibition era of bootlegging, speakeasies, gambling and all around raucous lifestyle. Bill's experience with the realities of life began at an early age beginning with severe lessons in honesty, obedience and acceptance of repsonsibilty for his irresponsible actions. He describes the rigor of 8 years attending a parochial school and life during the depression era with unusual candor and humor. Some of his experiences, antics and escapades, that may seem unbelievable,a re indicative of the fearless, daring and adventurous lifestyle he dreamed of and was destined to follow the rest of his life. He soloed an airplane before he ever drove a car, and was a crew member that flew a B-25 Bomber half way around the globe from Savannah, Georgia to Kunming, China where he flew 46 combat missions with the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers bombing and strafing targets in the South China Sea, French IndoChina, Thailand and Burma. He served 3 years with the Occupations Forces in Germany where he had the opportunity to conduct military and civil visits to Yugoslavia, Italy and Norway. While serving in Thailand during the Viet Nam war, he persisted in requesting and was finally authorized to fly one more mission in a jet fighter from a base that he probably bombed while serving in China 25 years previously, thus having the distinction of completing 46 missions in WWII and one mission during the Viet Nam war. At the height of his military career, he was assigned to the Top-Secret SR-71 Blackboard program, a major step in his otherwise exciting and memorable military career. He was personally responsible for establishing the tradition of th now famous Blackbird Tie-cutting Ceremony. Ties worn by Senator Barry Goldwater, Mr. C.K. "Kelly" Johnson and a number of 1 through 4 star Generals are now in a museum at Omaha, Nebraska. The author has been around the earth at least twice, walked the Great Wall of China, hunted big game in Africa, hunted in Europe and throughout the US. He fished in streams, lakes and oceans from Alaska to Baia, Mexico. He flew in every type of aerial conveyance from balloons to super-sonic fighters. For his 80th birthday, he completed a 10,000foot sky-jump and vows to repeat at age 85. In addition to his numerous escapades, accolades and accomplishments, his last and most prestigious recognition occurred in April 2002 when he was inducted into the initial Blackbird Laurels as the only Enlisted man in a group of 22 famous test pilots, Senior Officers and dignitaries including Lockheed's Clarence L. Kelly Johnson, designer of the still unequaled SR-71 Blackbird. The subject of "UOUGHTA" cannot be defined in one word. It is a combination of humor, reality, sadness, history, adventure, patriotism, ambition, persservance and citizenship. Naturally, there are always negatives in one's life, however, the word "failure" was never considered acceptable in the author's vocabulary.Gornik, William M. (Bill) is the author of 'U Oughta', published 2003 under ISBN 9780974937700 and ISBN 0974937703.