Air Force One had landed and everyone had their assignments, mobile response teams, lookouts, perimeter patrol. A mouse couldn’t had gotten through never mind someone who would endanger the life of the President of The United States, Ronald Reagan. What we hadn’t counted on was something more dangerous than an outside force.
I couldn’t have foreseen that. As a member of the strategic security and contingency planning team, we had designed a net around the area that was tight. But I was not able to see the fruits of that labor. Just 3 days prior, I was selected to go on a mission for 2 weeks overseas.
One of our Security Team members was TSgt. Twitch (names changed to protect the innocent…and guilty). We actually called him that because he had a nervous twitch that got worse under pressure. He shook so bad that when he went to the firing range for our annual weapons qualification, he couldn’t hit the target even from 20 feet away. And I mean the whole target, including the back board. No bullet holes to be seen anywhere.
His security position was at the nose of Air Force One while the President deplaned. The significance of this will become apparent later on.
No one liked him, and I mean no one. It was so bad that when he was promoted to Flight Chief (Shift Commander) everyone from the 4-12 shift, which is the shift he was assigned to, including me, put in for a transfer to the midnight shift. I was the one selected to go because I was the senior man. My primary duties on that shift was the Security Controller. I was the command and communications for the entire base. And my office was right next door to Tsgt. Twitchy.
One night my typewriter ribbon, from the old selectric typewriters became jammed. It was not an unusual occurrence, so removing the ribbon cartridge from another machine in the offices was pretty much standard procedure. So I switched it with Tsgt. Twitchy’s typewriter, which also got jammed.
If you remember these type of machines, you’d know that you can pull the ribbon out, if it’s not too damaged, and using the eraser end of a pencil, you can rewind it. It’s a long tedious project but I had plenty of time. Not much happens on the graveyard shift. As I started to rewind TSgt. Twitchy’s ribbon, I saw that letters that had been typed prior. They were arranged in an up, down pattern so are readily familiar. But there was something about the order that made me stop and look again.
It read: “Dear God, I feel I am at the end of my rope……..” (continued)
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