THE 456th FIGHTER INTERCEPTOR SQUADRON

THE PROTECTORS OF  S. A. C.

 

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 Lt. Col. James Price

at 1961 William Tell

    Courtesy Of Douglas Fahnlander

                 

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    • The 456th F.I.S. Wins 1961 William Tell

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    The Following Is Courtesy of  Everett "Denck" Dencklau

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    Wm Tell Article

    This is Price getting out of his bird when we arrived back at Castle.

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    This was our arrival home. Left to right - Price, Curnutte, Dencklau and Howerton. The whole Sq. was out there and the troops formed an Honor Guard for us. I'm normally a pretty quiet and bashful guy [except after I've been drinking :-)] and I was kind of uncomfortable, but this was really cool. I didn't think the troops got the recognition they deserved. They're the ones that won the trophy for us. Electronically and mechanically those aircraft were in the best condition I ever experienced in my entire flying career. Forty mile contacts, 20 mile lock ons, engage the auto pilot and then just sit there and pick your nose until it was time to pull the trigger. Trained monkeys could have done what we did. And the second pic is a toast to the trophy.

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    This was a General from ADC formally presenting Col. Price with the trophy, flanked by the Mayors of Atwater and Merced. Don't know the names of the General or the Mayors. Took a magnifying glass to the General's right chest, but that's a ribbon, not a name tag.

    A toast to the trophy.

     

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    This pic was taken in July 1961 just after they picked the William Tell aircrew members. From the top down and clockwise: Lt Col Price, Everett Dencklau, Bill Curnette, Chris Pulos (Sq Electronics Officer), Rex Howerton, Convair Tech Rep (white shirt) and Joe Mantecke (Sq Maintenance Officer).

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    This was a victory party we had on the beach at Panama City after we won. Only one team member was missing in the pic – Rex Howerton. We had a lot of beer and oysters on the half shell.

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    This is a flyover at Beale AFB to mark the activation of the Sector Hq. at Beale and the deactivation of the 78th Fighter Group in late 1960. The 456th was the lead flight, the 82nd FIS Travis F-102s) was on the right wing, the 84th FIS (Hamilton F-101s) was on the left wing and the 83rd FIS (Hamilton F-104s) was in the slot.

     

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    This is a vertical pic as we flew over the photographer. You can see three vertical rows of aircraft. Jim Price was leading and he’s in the top aircraft middle row. Rex Howerton was in the top aircraft of the right row (left wing). Bill Curnette was in the top aircraft of the left row (right wing). Everett Dencklau was the bottom aircraft on the left row.

     

     

     

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    Last Updated

    02/18/2009

     

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