A chance meeting after 40 years…

by Al Sterling

From mid 1968 to mid 1969, I was assigned to the 601^st Photo Squadron, Detachment 3, Ubon, Thailand. It was there that I served as a combat photo specialist for the Air Force. And one of our squadron commanders was Captain Ford. He was someone I’d thought about for years following my military tour.

In 2000, I put together a very simple website, honoring the guys that served with me, posting photos and soliciting contacts with anyone who served with us back then. It yielded more incoming calls and emails than I thought it would. From that year that I spent in Thailand, I developed friendships and memories that, like with many servicemen, I carry to this day. Colonel Ford, our commander, was one of those people, that for whatever reason, I remembered, and was part of chats I’d had with fellow Airmen from our tour in Ubon. (see:  www.601st.com )

I’ll bring this to the present, and to a very ironic moment yesterday, Wednesday, when I was at Riverside National Cemetery, photographing our company’s memorial products, which include the cast bronze plaques that we have supplied to the Veterans Administration, and ultimately the National Cemeteries.

I needed photographs of the columbarium sites at the cemetery. And on my way to the Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial at the Southeast corner of the property, found it convenient to stop at a columbarium site on the way to the memorial. It would be convenient for me to take some photos.

When I had taken all of my long and close-up shots of the various columbarium walls, I decided to take just one more close up of a Veteran’s plaque. Walking up to the closest columbarium wall, I raised my camera to focus on a plaque that was conveniently at eye-level. Looking through the camera view finder, I read the name… John E. Ford III. In near disbelief, I dropped the camera to view the entire plaque. And yes, in total surprise, I was quite sure that this was my squadron commander from Ubon, Thailand. Of all the columbariums at the National Cemetery, and of all the walls I could have picked, and of all the plaques I could have focused upon… I had unknowingly arrived at our squadron commander’s final resting place and memorial.

To help verify the name, I went online and found a website page from the Sons of the American Revolution, Redlands, CA chapter.

And within moments of reading Colonel Ford’s military biography, found the information that told me that I had indeed chanced upon our commander………….

“He went back to Vietnam in 1967 after having been in the Air Force Reserve for 4½ years. He stayed in the combat theater for 2½ years. For the majority of the time he was a commander of a combat camera detachment.” That combat camera detachment was Detachment 3, Ubon, Thailand, our home for no less than one year of our young lives, and for some, longer.

Being an employee of the company that has served in the memorialization process of our American Veterans, and being a veteran of our armed services, I always take special interest and hold great respect when involved in any phase of my work that involves our American Veterans. This recent “chance meeting” reminded me of how truly small our world can be. And it reinforces my belief that, without knowing it, we have probably crossed paths with those we have loved, known, and who have been special to us, many times more than we could imagine. Sometimes it happens and we aren’t aware, and sometimes, like yesterday, it’s one of those “one in a million” chance meetings.