Military pilot began flying early—at age 14
When it came to being prepared to join the U.S. Air Force, Ray Dressler had a lot more than just a “leg up, ”on the situation— he had two wings up.
Long before the Air Force’s 1970s television recruiting, advertising and promotions motto was “Aim High” this Texarkana, Texas, resident was doing just that as a kid when it came to a future in flying.
“I was a crop duster pilot and I had my pilot’s license by the time I was 14 years old,” Dressler, now 75, said.
By 1959, Dressler, who by then was just 17 years old and crop dusting in Nevada and Missouri, wanted to join the U.S. Air Force.
“I took my basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio,” Dressler said.
By age 18, Dressler had a Warrant Officer’s commission, since he already knew how to fly and he received his first stationing briefly at Kelley Air Force Base (also in San Antonio), before being deployed to Southeast Asia— Saigon to be exact. Also by this time (1960), Dressler had learned how to fly military helicopters. He flew air rescue missions, air reconnaissance and some limited military combat operations being conducted in conjunction with the early prelude to the Vietnam War.
“During one of those rescue flights (in a U.S. Army Huey helicopter) I got shot, but I was able to keep flying for nine hours,” Dressler said.
Besides being wounded on one of those flights, enemy gun fire brought down Dressler’s helicopter and this time he became a prisoner of war for a short time. To this day, Dressler remembers the official POW menu.
“To survive, I had to eat crickets, cockroaches and maggot-infested cold rice just to survive,” he said.
However, during his captivity, Dressler drew strength from his faith in God and from memories
“To survive, I had to eat crickets, cockroaches and maggot-infested cold rice just to survive.” —Ray Dressler
of hearing about how his uncle survived as a POW in Europe during World War II.
“My uncle had to eat grass while he was in Germany,” Dressler said. “That was my influence.”
Another of Dressler’s Asian deployments included stationing at a radar detection center in South Korea, a place where he also was wounded, by a stray bullet, near the country’s 38th Parallel border with North Korea. But with the help of God, he survived again.
Along with participating in these covert operations, Dressler received brief deployment to the Gulf of Mexico to be on flight stand by alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
Dressler continued his Air Force service in missile maintenance by helping to maintain the U.S. Minute Man Nuclear Intercontinental Ballistic Missile sites throughout the country—including in North Dakota and Montana. He also conducted security patrols at Barksdale Air Force Base, as well as served in less lethal environments such as in clerical filing position at Lackland A.F.B.’s Radar Detection Center. While stationed there, Dressler also served as the air base’s headquarters driver for high ranking officers.
Having been a Christian since he was 7 years old, Dressler eventually felt a calling to be a pastor and now teaches a Bible class at Cowhorn Creek Estates.
Perhaps with the one notable exception of being a POW, Dressler expressed his joy and thankfulness for the chance to serve his country.
“Time seemed to fly by while I was in military service,” he said.