Southwest Texas LIVE! in print

¡Hecho en México!

    October 2008 in print Val Verde Winery's 125th Anniversary 

Singer/songwriter and producer Radney Foster hails from Del Rio. The second of four children of John and Bette Foster, born in 1959, he learned to play the guitar at age 12, living in his ancestral home on Hudson Ave. in south Del Rio.

The San Felipe Amistad Lions Club announced last month that Eunice Gomez will be the 2008-09 president. She replaces outgoing president Claudia Lopez. Gomez is a 1998 graduate of Del Rio High School and the general manager of Del Rio Home and Auto, also known as H&A.

Javier Martinez is an icon of local Del Rio radio. His “Town Talk Live” is a popular hour of talking about the issues. Or, detractors would say, one hour of local political drama. He is also the founder of the local chapter of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

“Toward the Unknown” was their motto. The U-2A was capable of reaching altitudes in excess of 67,000 feet. The U-2C, with an updated engine could fly higher, up to 74,000 feet. Airlines today rarely fly over 40,000 feet, and for anyone to fly over 50,000, federal regulations require a pressure suit.

James M. Burkeen of Del Rio lingered a little after the May 23, 2008 historical marker dedication for the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. He wasn't the only one. There were others greeting old friends.

Chris Pocock, and aviation journalist and writer spearheaded much of the recording of the U-2’s history with countless hours of interviews and research. Before Pocock, many of the people involved in the program were unknown, unsung heroes who had accomplished a great bit in the defense of the United States and the rest of the free world at great risk to themselves, but they received little recognition.

In February 1963, Major Changti “Robin” Yeh of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force arrived at Laughlin AFB to learn how to fly the U-2. It was the start of a 20-year journey that would take him from the top of the military aviation in Taiwan to captivity in Mainland China to being refused by his own countrymen in Taiwan upon his release from captivity.

U-2 tail number 56-6707 was a special bird. She sits today as a U-2 memorial static display at Laughlin AFB and, to my knowledge, is the only one that sports the signature gray paint job and the 4080th Dragon Lady and Black Knight patch on it’s vertical stabilizer. It is one of only twelve of the fifty-three U-2 early birds built still exists today, on static display, somewhere in the world.