Jay Thompson

Christel

May 25
Murrysville, PA  15668
JayMThompson@hotmail.com


1975

My wife, Christel and I have 2 children; Christian Jay, and Daneille. Chris and I enjoy skiing, tennis, photography, music, international foods and travel. From 1966-1973, I was a pilot in WSAG in Springfiled, MA. From 1973 ot present, Adminidtration - Westinghouse Nuclear Energy Systems in Pittsburgh, PA.

2000

Time flies when you're having fun, but 40 years is a long, long time to fly. What ever has happened to all that time? After leaving OHS, I attended college at Ohio State to the beat of the Kingsmen's "Louie, Louie.". During graduation in June of 1966, I was commissioned as an officer in the Air Force. That Fall my new bride, Christel, and I climbed into our VW Bug and headed southwest for Lubbock, Texas where Buddy Holly sang "Peggy Sue" and I was to begin USAF Pilot Training. We spent the next year "learning to fly." I say we, because Christel was up with me at the crack of dawn asking me emergency procedures, while I downed a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon. A year later in September 1967 I graduated after flying the Northrop T-38 Talon at Mach 1.2 and punching holes in the stratosphere with victory rolls. Highlights included overflight of the Grand Canyon during a cross country to Colorado Ski Country, aerobatic maneuvers and four-ship formation flying that was so dangerous and so much fun it should have been illegal, another cross country flight to Virginia Beach, and Graduation which included an airshow by the USAF Thunderbirds. After three months of advanced training near Sacramento, California, Christel and I were assigned to the 99th Air Refueling Squadron, 8th Air Force at Westover AFB, Massachusetts to fly the Boeing KC-135 Jet Tanker.

If you have ever visited New England, you know what a marvelous location it is, brimming with beautiful and historic places. During the five years we lived there in Longmeadow, I spent quite a bit of time in Southeast Asia. This was during Vietnam, and I had several assignments lasting three and six months at a time. Christel violated military protocol by joining me in Thailand and later Okinawa. She was one of the first wives to show up in the combat zone as a "tourist." Later others would follow her lead. Together, we did a lot of sightseeing in those far off countries. The city of Bankok was the most exotic, by far. We sampled and sipped the cuisine and culture there, and later sailed and skiied in the Gulf of Siam near Pataya beach. Our squadron (the Ramrods) had the mission of air refueling F-100, F-105, F-4, U-2 and B-52 aircraft both pre-strike and post-strike, to increase their combat radius and get them safely back to their bases in time for "happy hour." When all was said and done I had flown over 1000 hours combat time, and over 100 Young Tiger sorties.

In 1972 our son Christian (C.J.) was born, and I left the Air Force in 1973 for a job with Westinghouse Energy Systems in Pittsburgh.We live in wooded suburb called Murrysville, east of the city near the Westinghouse offices. I have worked there in international business for over 25 years, primarily with French and Spanish customers. In 1975 our daughter Danielle (D.D.) was born. Christel dedicated her time to educating the kids and as a volunteer in Church and school programs.

During that era our family spent a lot of weekends in the Laurel Mountains skiing in winter, and hiking, picnicking and rafting in summer. As you can imagine, much of our life has been focused on activities the kids were involved in; school projects, swim teams, soccer, tennis and skiing. Over the years we spent our vacations at the shore in MD and NC, Crystal Lake, MI, Linwood Park, OH, Mexico interspersed with occasional skiing or sightseeing trips to Europe.

In 1977 I decided to return to flying, and joined the PA Air National Guard 171st Air Refueling Wing at Pittsburgh International Airport. Looking back on it, this demanded more of my time than I realized; one weekend per month and two weeks of "summer camp" or trips per year. Also, once nearly every week I would leave work at Westinghouse in the mid-afternoon, drive to the airport, plan and fly a refueling mission somewhere in the Eastern US. I was seldom home before midnight. The trips took the form of two-day to two-week missions to places like England, Germany, Spain, Norway, Honolulu, Salt Lake City (Alta ski trip) and even Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. "Yes," they were necessary.....and very cost effective for the taxpayer I might add. On September 28, 1991 my crew and I retired the last KC-135 off ready alert in Pittsburgh in response to the collapse of Soviet Communisim. In December of 1992 I flew my last mission in the KC-135 and retired after racking up 4000 flying hours and 23 years of service.

Now we are in the midst (June 24, 2000) of Y2K, our nest is empty, our kids are grown and off on their own. Christel works downtown as office manager of "The Pittsburgh Experiment," a Christian ministry to the business community of Pittsburgh. Since leaving the Air Guard, most of my "missions" have been with Westinghouse, The Pittsburgh Experiment, the Ecumenical ministry in our community and our Presbyterian church. C.J. is an Optometrist, working at the Navajo Reservation near Canyon de Chelly in NE Arizona. He and Maurie are celebrating their 5th wedding Anniversary this weekend at a "canyoneering" course in the Grand Canyon. They belong to a Navajo Church and lead the music there on Sunday mornings. Danielle just graduated from Law School a few weeks ago with much fanfare and celebration. She will be working for a firm in Dallas, TX in the Fall and is presently in Dallas preparing for the Texas Bar. In August, she will return to the University of Pittsburgh campus to marry one of her fellow classmates, Mr. Rob Clarkson. "Yes," Rob did actually ask me for her hand in marriage, and I have given him my blessing.

Go back to our Oberlin High School 1960 web site.