Gerald Lantz Jr.

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Bill was born July 2, 1947 in the old hospital in Norwalk, Ohio. His youth was uneventful and after graduating Norwalk High School he enlisted in the USAF in 1965 at the age of 17. In the Air Force he graduated from the Aerospace Ground Equipment Technical School. During this training he received training in electronics, generators, engines, gas turbines, air compressors, air conditioning, hydraulic systems to name a few. He was stationed at Bunker Hill AFB (B- 58 Bombers and KC-135 tankers) (Bunker Hill later became Grissom AFB) In 1967 he received orders for Vietnam and prior to leaving Married his first wife Alta Rose Biggs (Elkins). Bill was stationed in Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of VietNam from Sept 67 through Sept 68. He was on duty on the flight line when Cam Ranh Bay was attacked for the first time during the 68 Tet offensive. After returning to the states Bill and Rose set up housekeeping at KI Sawyer AFB in Northern Michigan. There Kristin Diane was born in 1969. Later they moved to Phoenix, Arizona. In 1972 Bill cross trained into the B-52 Bomber gunnery field. The B-52 C through F models had four fifty caliber machine guns that were remotely radar controlled. The gunner would search for targets, tell the pilot how to maneuver to protect the aircraft, and if the target got close enough he would lock onto it with the radar and fire when in range. The gunner sat in the tail. On the B-52G model the gunner was moved up front and was given an ejection seat. The H model was equipped with one 4000 round per minute 20 MM gatling gun. Bill was qualified in all models during his career. In 1973 Bill was sent to Guam to fly 12 hour bombing missions into Vietnam. In 1974 Rose decided she no longer wanted to be married to Bill and filed for divorce. In January 1975 Bill began dating Mary Ilean Dean (Jackson) who he met at Blytheville AFB, AR. and they married March 8, 1975. March 8th was also Bill's parent's anniversary. Bill and Mary moved to Merced California, where Bill was stationed as an Instructor at Castle AFB. At Castle AFB Mary Jean was born on September 8, 1976 and Bill III came along on August 15,1978. In 1979 Bill and Mary returned to Blytheville AFB and remained until Bill Retired in 1985 as a Master Sergeant. Upon retirement he and Mary returned to Norwalk, Ohio. Bill took a position with the American Baler Company as a field service engineer, and was later promoted to the Service Manager's position. Bill and Mary attended and are members of the Assembly of God Church. 4/7/2000 Bill & Mary went to Mohican Resort for the weekend to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with the family. Bill Retired from American Baler in 2007 and He and Mary wintered in Florida and Summered in Ohio. In 2008 Bill decided he was bored with retirement and wanted to do something different so he was trained by Schneider to drive a truck and for the next several years he and Mary traveled around the country delivering freight. Later they contracted to haul loads for Walmart that allowed them to live closer to home. In 2012 Bill started having health problems unknown to him at the time and retired from driving and took their RV to Florida once again. While loading a small boat into the back of their pickup he collapsed from the exertion and went to the doctor who treated him for Afib and eventually led to having two stents installed. Bill and Mary continued traveling back and forth to Florida until 2020 when they purchased a home in Florida and sold their home in Ohio to their son Bill. ^[1]