I found this forum while searching for old USAF friends. "Swanie" Swanberg was my father's close friend and colleague at Wurtsmith AFB in the 60s. Our family spent a lot of time at the Swanberg's home on Lake Van Etten in Oscoda (the Swanbergs did not live on base). I last saw Swanie at his wife Nai's burial at Arlington National Cemetery and have not been in touch with the family since then.

I don't know much about military materiel, but perhaps I can help answer questions about Swanie. His service flying B-17s during WWII, and then service in SAC during the Cold War, mirrored my father's service (100th BG, the "Bloody 100th"). In addition to sharing their service history, Swanie and my dad were Midwestern Scandinavians.

Swanie was a big friendly guy, and his wife Nai was the life of every party. I remember that Swanie built a round wooden swing that he suspended from a tree in his back yard, and he would give us big pushes that would sent us sailing out over the lake. In the winter we would tobaggon down his hill onto the frozen lake, screaming all the way.

Swanie and my dad were constantly in the skies in their B-52s during their WAFB service, given the Sovieticon threat. There was a very scary period when those of us in base housing had to stockpile our basements with canned goods, bottled water, sleeping bags and even chemical toilets because of the threat of strikes against SAC bases. During the Cuban missile crisis, the B-52 crews camped out on the WAFB flight line for weeks, standing by. We were allowed to drive out to the runways every once in awhile in order to visit our dads.