Amazing Benefits in Traveling on Someone Else's Dime

By Thomas A. Butts Jr.

This autobiography talks about the author's life starting with his early childhood and into his adult life. He tells how he became a licensed pilot at the young age of sixteen and flew several different aircraft at that age. Furthermore, this book speaks about how the author survived a major fire aboard an aircraft carrier and how he has survived prostate cancer for sixteen years.

The author has traveled to 13 countries and he gives a quick glimpse of travel to foreign and exotic places. Moreover, he gives a little history about each country visited, and include several pictures that may encourage the reader to visit some of the places mentioned. Approximately, ninety-five percent of the author's travel was on Someone Else's Dime, namely, the Department of the Navy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Nov 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781490728384

Thomas A. Butts Jr.

During his 40-year military and professional career, the author traveled to 13 countries, where he chronicled people, cultures, and experiences. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he attended the University of Illinois, and has lived in New York and Connecticut. He currently resides in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and has three grown sons.

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Copyright 2010 THOMAS A BUTTS JR.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4269-4224-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-2838-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010912715

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATIONS

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1-EARLY DAYS

CHAPTER 2 - LEARNING to FLY

CHAPTER 3 - COLLEGE YEARS

CHAPTER 4-US AIR FORCE

CHAPTER 5-ENGLAND

CHAPTER 6-FRANCE

CHAPTER 7-NORTH AFRICA

CHAPTER 8-EUROPE

CHAPTER 9-TAUGHT BALLROOM DANCING

CHAPTER 10 IN TRANSITION: NEW YORK to CONNECTICUT JUNE 1965

CHAPTER 11-DIFFERENT COUNTRIES VISITED

CHAPTER 12-BAHAMAS

CHAPTER 13 - St Croix, VIRGIN ISLAND

CHAPTER 14-ITALY

CHAPTER 15-SCOTLAND

CHAPTER 16-ENGLAND

CHAPTER 17-SPAIN

CHAPTER 18-GREECE

CHAPTER 19-CANADA

CHAPTER 20 -TRAVEL WITHIN UNITED STATES

CHAPTER 21-MAYDAY MAYDAY

CHAPTER 22-RETIREMENT

CHAPTER 23-MILITARY AWARDS

CHAPTER 24-CIVILIAN AWARDS

CHAPTER 25-7⁵th BIRTHDAY

CONCLUSION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RESOURCES

DEDICATIONS

To my wonderful and loving three sons Derrick, Steven, and Karlton, this book is for them. Derrick and Karlton received their undergraduate degrees in Electronic Engineering from North Carolina A & T. Steven received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Howard University.

Derrick and Steven have obtained Master Degrees in their special fields of interest. My youngest son Karlton continued his education further to obtain his Taw Degree. Their accomplishments in life have made me a very proud Dad. I trust and pray that they will continue to do well.

PREFACE

This book includes a small reference to my personal life as a child. In addition, it explains how I traveled to many different countries On Someone Else's Dime. During my 29 years working as a test director on target submarines for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, I was able to travel extensively.

Chapter 21, 22 and 25 includes additional information about my adult life after retirement.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author wishes to thank Mrs. Bernice Easley for editing my book. She did a wonderful job in finding mistakes I made. Furthermore, I wish to thank Mr. Johnny Johnson for designing the picture for the book cover and Mr. Marian Fisher for his research of the history of Fort Trumbull in Connecticut.

INTRODUCTION

Ninety-five percent of my traveling was for Someone Else and that Someone Else was the Department of the Navy/Naval Undersea Warfare Center. They paid all my traveling expenses. That is the best way to travel. During my life, I've had the opportunity to travel extensively while in the military and when I worked for the Department of the Navy. While in the U.S. Air Force, some of my traveling to different countries was on my dime. There were many places I wanted to visit prior to joining the military, however, the cost made traveling prohibitive.

Travel has a different significance for different people. Business men and women travel to distant places to attend meetings, or to have face to face confrontations with their clients. Others travel to different locations for a vacation with their families or to see relatives in faraway places.

For me, traveling has been an opportunity to meet new people both in the United States and in foreign countries, and to talk with people of different countries and cultures. Furthermore, traveling has made it possible to see art work, sculptures, monuments, and architectures of foreign countries. That is something I really enjoyed because of the many history courses I've taken.

This is one of the greatest and Amazing Benefits in Traveling on Someone Else's Dime. What an education to gain when one has the opportunity to travel! There is no substitute to being on site and seeing things in real time with your own eyes. Reading books about a place offers no comparison to seeing a place yourself.

This book will be about some of the places I visited and enjoyed. Also, it includes a small part of my personal life. There are many pictures at the back of this book showing some but not all the places I visited. Some locations had restrictions on taking pictures because of security classifications. The author trusts that the reader finds the material presented to be educational, enlightening and enjoyable. This book was written so that my three sons would have a permanent documentation of what their Dad did during his life time.

CHAPTER 1-EARLY DAYS

Early Childhood in Richmond, Virginia

My parents were in their twenties when I was born on June 26, 1934, the second son of their six children. My brother Garland was one year plus one month older than I. As young kids, we played very well together. Our parents were hard workers and very loving and caring.

We lived in Jackson Ward section of Richmond during our early years. When we started going to school, the boys had to learn how to protect themselves early in life. Other kids from the neighborhood would bully my brothers and me to take our lunch money or brown bag lunch. Our Dad knew how to box which he had learned early in his life. He taught my brothers and me this art to protect ourselves from those bullies in the neighborhood.

As a young kid, I was always fascinated by airplanes. My Dad would buy model airplane kits for me to build. When the airplane kit was completed, my Dad would take me to Brookfield Park in Richmond, VA to fly it with guide wires. Flying a model airplane was exciting and fun for me. When we were out at the park, I would tell my Dad that one day I was going to fly a real airplane. He would tell me that I was just dreaming. Well, my dream came true when I became fifteen.

CHAPTER 2 - LEARNING to FLY

I found out the cost was only $5.00 per hour wet (with aviation fuel in the wings) and that price included the instructions. When I was 12 years old, I was delivering the daily newspapers in Richmond. My mother saved my earnings for me. That job provided the necessary money to pay for my flying lessons. My Dad told me he would sign the papers for my flying lessons, but I had better find a way to pay for it. He did not realize that I had that part covered.

The above price of $5.00 per hour was the cost for flying lessons in the year 1949-1950 and that price is unavailable today. FAA minimum hours of training were eight hours before a student could solo. I soloed with a total training time often hours and fifteen minutes and continued flying until I graduated from high school in June 1952.

During my early years of flying, I learned to fly five different types of aircraft. These included the following aircraft: Piper Club, Piper Tri-Pacer, Aeronca, PT-19 and PT-26. The last two aircraft were former military aircraft used during World War II as Primary Trainers. I loved flying the military trainers because they were heavy, fast and just fun to fly.

My flight instructor was surprised and impressed at how fast I learned to fly those different aircraft.