US Air Force - Optometrist
I graduated from the U.C. School of Optometry in 1951.
I had been drafted into the army after the end of World War II, went to basic training and band training as a clarinetist, and after 6 months discharged as the army demobilized. In the Korean War, one needed one year of prior service to be exempt from the draft.
So I enlisted for 3 years in the U. S. Air Force, as a second lieutenant optometry officer, in the medical service corps. The U. S. Air Force was newly created; in the war had been the U.S. Army Air Corps. I was one of the first optometrists in the newly formed USAF. In World War II, optometrists in the army were sergeants. ‘
I started my service in January 1952, ended in January 1955, and my first duty was the school of aviation medicine at Gunter AFB, Montgomery, Alabama. That sounds innocent enough, but it was one of the sites of full segregation against black people, who, in signs, they called colored people.
Carolynn came with me. We had a good train trip to Alabama, we stopped in Chicago en route, we had breakfast at the famous Palmer house, and we saw a play, “The Moon Is Blue”.
There was full segregation. Carolynn was seeing it for the first time, and I had seen it at Camp Lee, Virginia, during my 6 months in the US Army. Black people had separate bathrooms and drinking fountains in the train station, could not sit at a lunch counter, and had to sit in the back of a bus. This was very strange to us coming from S.F., but “when in Rome do as the Romans do”. We didn’t know the civil rights movement and legislation would be coming.
Carolyn came with me, and we stayed in an apartment in the city; two other officers from the base were in the same apartment. Almost every night, the three couples got together for penny anti-poker and drank daiquiris. They were from the South. One day, driving back to the base, they saw an odd-looking transient, and said, “Look at that honyonker,, They were interested in watching him, but I was more interested in that word was new and strange sounding to me. We enjoyed their company, but the friendship was not continued. I don’t remember their names, and we didn’t exchange any information about our background or our professions. Maybe because we were young and thinking about our service soon to come, rather than long-term friendships.
Montgomery is the Alabama state capital. The state capital building is an impressively large white building, with a round dome, and 6 tall columns in front. The city hall is brick color in front, doesn’t have a dome, and has 6 tall columns in front. We didn’t do much sightseeing or go to neighboring states when we were there.
The certificate said Air University, School of Aviation Medicine, U S Air Force, let it be known that Second Lieutenant Norman G Licht, USAF (MSC), is a graduate of the Indoctrination Course for officers in the Medical Service. In testimony thereof and the power vested in us, we do confer on him this Diploma. Dated March 8, 1952. Signed by 4 people.
Near the end of the school, I was ordered to take a brief flight in a military aircraft. It was noisy, the walls rattled, and there were benches along the sides. It was very different than a commercial aircraft. Maybe the purpose of the flight was to tell me and the other classmates, “you’re in the air force now”.
I had asked to be stationed in CA, because I had wanted to look for a location to practice after the three years in the Air Force. I was stationed at Mather AFB, located off Highway 50 north of Sacramento. The hospital was a one-story, wood-walled building. We lived at Wherry housing, which was on base up a hill, many cinder block homes, separate, a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom; it was adequate.
Mather AFB was a training base for observers, another name for navigators. I was important because it was during the Korean War, but there was little, if any, evidence of the war in the base hospital. My office was located in the back of the flight surgeon's office. I had a small window air conditioner, and I did eye examinations by appointment for base personnel and their family. The men on the base had good vision, which was required for pilots and observers.
I also did the eye examination part of a discharge physical. Many were high ranks, had served in World War II, and served in Korea, and then wanted to stay in the air force for a career, but had to be discharged. Everything is at the government's convenience, but the officers being discharged were very unhappy.
Our son Ron was born at the base hospital on June 1, 1953. His birth certificate said Mills, CA, which was a small post office outside the base on Highway 50. If in SF, my parents and grandparents would have wanted to have a religious bris ceremony, but instead Ron was circumcised at the base hospital, by Dr Rosen, who had delivered him.
Paul and Shirley Rosen had a home near us. We became friends and got together often. They had their first child, Andrea, who played with our first child, Ron. We had birthday parties in our backyard. We also became friends with Al and Lee Dau, who was a flight officer who had returned from service in Korea. The Rosens and the Daus were from Chicago. After the USAF, they stayed in CA, the Rosens in Los Gatos and the Daus in Atherton. When Paul’s mother died, he gave her mahjong set to Carolynn. There were two other couples that were friends of the Daus; we had many social events after the Air Force, the Ron and Marge Bird, and the Merlos. Ron Bird was a lieutenant colonel, a pilot.
We spent a lot of time in the officers' club, with the Rosens, the Daus, and other officers who happened to be there. They served plentiful drinks and hors d’hoevres.
By coincidence, the home next door to us was that of Bob Wier, a physician, the flight surgeon who was in charge of the office where I had my office in the back. They had two young boys, older than Ron. Carolynn became friendly with his wife, Malissa.
Our house had a small climbing rose bush at the railing of a porch at the front door. I trained it by pruning, watering, and fertilizing it, and by the time we left, it was a very large rose bush, with small red flowers.
Sacramento was hot in the summer, every day 100 degrees or more. There was no air conditioning in our home or our car. We had a small rubber water pool in the backyard for Ron.
We did make auto trips to the Peninsula, stayed in a small separate house with a bedroom and bathroom located behind my parents' home on Whipple in Redwood City.
There was a theatre on base, and we would go there often before Ron was born, because it was air-conditioned. Sacramento had a theatre-in-the-round, tent-like. The shows were good, and we went there often. Ranch Cordova, later a large development nearby, at that time was open grassy fields.
We spent a lot of time in the officers' club, with the Rosens and the Daus, and other officers we met there. The drinks and hors d’oeuvres were plentiful. This was a contrast to my previous time when a private in the army.
There were no freeways in Sacramento. I remember going to Lake Tahoe, we were waiting for a green light on the narrow street, Capital Avenue, in a hot car without air-conditioning.
We knew Bobby Kresteller, our age in SF, married to an optometrist, Dr. Cooper; they graciously introduced us to their friends, one was the Feinbergs; their friends invited us to their homes. We also knew Mrs. Nee Marcus, the daughter of a friend of my parents, who lived in Sacramento, invited us to their home for social events many times.
One day, a flight officer who lived near us rang our doorbell and said he had suddenly lost vision in one eye. From his description, I said it may be a retinal detachment, one of the few emergencies in ophthalmology, and he needed to be seen as soon as possible, so the
Air Force took him by ambulance to the larger Hamilton AFB. He had surgery, which saved his vision. When he was transferred later, in gratitude, he gave me his footlocker, which I brought to the peninsula and used for storage.
Sometimes we went to the Peninsula to visit friends and relatives in the SF Bay Area, and would stay in a guest building located behind my parents' home on Myrtle Street in Redwood City. It had a living room, bedroom, and bathroom, but no kitchen. Driving between Sacramento and Redwood City, there was very little traffic.
One day, with only about 6 months more active duty, I got a notice to see the base commander, a lieutenant colonel. I stood in front of his desk and saluted. He said he had stopped by and looked at my appointment book, and I wasn’t busy. He was putting me in charge of the base laundry. He said they had a problem where some sheets had been disappearing. I saluted again and left. I didn’t know anything about laundry. There was an experienced sergeant who did the work at the laundry, so I went there occasionally and signed the report papers he prepared. That was the only time I saw the base commander.
When it was close to the end of active duty, I was asked to see Rocky, short for Captain Rochford, the base adjutant. I had been promoted to first lieutenant from second lieutenant, and he said it I reenlisted for more active duty, I would be promoted to captain. I said I didn’t want any superiors over me, and I wanted to start private practice. He said if so, I would have my patients over me, I would have to satisfy them. I was one of the first optometrists in the newly formed USAF, so it was a good financial opportunity, but life in the service was so different than that of all the people I had known in the S F Bay Area. I never really considered it a possibility at the time.
I was a private in the U S Army, and an officer in the Air Force, so you can guess which was a more enjoyable experience.