Cold War soldiers’ silent duty honored

VIRGINIA — Veterans and local volunteers gather at their Virginia hotel for the South Willamette Honor Flight, a five-hour flight from Portland to the Eastern Shore.

This is what happened to Arden Jayne.

There are Korean War veterans, Vietnam veterans, and among that group we sometimes find Cold War veterans – soldiers who never went to war but were always ready.

Arden Jayne was always ready.

“I was going to get drafted and I knew it.”

He enlisted in the Air Force in 1956 and got out in 1960 – after the Korean War and before Vietnam.

“The prevailing idea at the time was that people were, I think, more afraid of war than they are today, but that never happened, of course. You just thought you would go to war.

Jayne was team leader. His job was to keep this plane always ready.

“This is the bird I lived with for three years,” he said, showing a photo of the plane he had prepared, cared for and made sure it worked. Then the pilot would fly it.

“While (the pilot) was away, you would find a shady spot and wait. You wait and then you hope that it will come back and land, no problem, you know, and land well and everything. Yes, and then when it landed, you would start all over again.

It seems mundane and routine, but in the military you never know what to expect.

“They called us at three in the morning. We’d go out there, and we’d load up the C130s with engines and tires and load up, and then they’d give us our orders once we were on the plane we were going to.

But Arden Jayne never went to war. He served alongside other young men and women who were willing to do anything.

That’s service – and it deserves this week’s honor flight.

“It’s something I’ve tried not to do for several years. People try. I answer: “No, I have not participated in any war. Let’s save this for the people who actually had to give.

But he relented – and kept us ready.

“I look back on it and I think kids do that. I can’t believe it.

And he wouldn’t change it for anything.

“It was worth a million dollars. It was a great experience.