24 January 2008

This page provides a brief unofficial background on Karamursel Air Station, some information on the website, a short history on how our group began, and instructions on how to become a member.

THE STATION:

This website was established to preserve the camaraderie of the men and women who served in the United States Air Force, Navy, and Marines at Karamürsel Air Station, just outside the village of Karamürsel Turkey. The Station was located on the Marmara Sea and was originally built by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The USAF opened the Station in 1957 in support of the 6933^rd Radio Group Mobile communications operations and designated it Detachment 3 of the Turkish-United States Logistics (TUSLOG). It was also known as Mainsite, as it exercised administrative control over at least two other sites designated Det 3-1and Det 3-2. The site remained in operation until the late 1970’s.

THE WEBSITE:

The organization this website supports (KAS 60-61) is made up of personnel assigned to Karamürsel Air Station (KAS) from it’s inception through 1961. In other words, the latest arrival date in KAS for persons eligible for membership would be December 30, 1961. We presently number just short of 500 members. The website includes:

a “Personnel” page where all members of the group are listed. In addition, we list all the “Karamürsel survivors” we locate, whether they join the group or not, and we list names of persons we’ve not yet located when names are found on orders or other papers. If you’re eligible and are interested in membership, see the instructions for joining below.

a “Reunion” page that includes a recap of our last group reunion and information on our upcoming reunion

a “Memorial” page dedicated to our comrades who have passed on

a “KAS Store” where you can see some items related to Karamürsel that can be purchased. These may be purchased by members and non-members alike.

a “Links” page which will direct you to other related websites

OUR HISTORY:

KAS 60-61 began life in 1998, quite by accident. While scanning the Internet for information on Karamürsel, I ran across a website that documented all U.S. military operations in Turkey. It included a section on Karamürsel, and in fact, the webmaster of the site had been stationed there in 1958. I wrote a short note about my April 1960 trip to Turkey and sent it to the website where it was posted along with my email address. Nearly a year later I received an email from Jerry Spoo who had been stationed there with me and had also been stationed in San Angelo (Goodfellow AFB) with me. We began exchanging email, including another person, Ralph Jobson, who was local to me and had been in KAS with us.

Shortly after that, I received an email from Rudy Ruediger who was very interested in exchanging stories about KAS, and he brought along Bill McKay, with whom he had been in contact. Van Damron was the very next person to join the group.

Rudy immediately began a phone search program looking for other “Karamürsel survivors”, most of whom were on Dog Flight at KAS as were we charter members, with the exception of Jerry who was on Charlie Flight. As new guys were located, they too began looking for friends of theirs. With no plan for such, we rapidly became a group of nearly 50 guys previously stationed at KAS. At that time, everyone sent email to me where I combined it and turned it around to the whole group.

In 1999, with our membership growing, we began talking about the possibility of having a group reunion, and in fact the next year that came about. Reunion 2000 was held in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Seventeen members and their wives showed up. We all had such a great time that it was agreed we should have one each year. In 2001 and 2002 they were again held in Myrtle Beach. Then in 2003 we moved the reunion to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. At that reunion we had 110 people (wives included) in attendance. Our reunion in 2004 was held in Williamsburg, Virginia and in 2005 it was held in San Antonio, Texas. In 2006 we returned to Myrtle Beach and that year decided to make Myrtle Beach the official home for our future reunions.

Our membership continues to grow and although the majority of members are Air Force, the number of Navy and Marines continues to increase. With the number of members today, we now use a web-based email system to route information, stories, pictures and such among the membership. The provider is MSN Groups and an invitation is required to register with the service. If you’re interested in joining, an invitation will be sent to you.

We also maintain a membership roster that includes names, nick names used in Turkey, dates stationed in Turkey, job specialty code (AFSC, etc) while there, email address, mailing address, and phone number. Members receive an updated copy of this via email at least quarterly or more often depending on the number of additions to it.

MEMBERSHIP:

In order to qualify for membership, you must have been assigned to Karamürsel Air Station no later than December 1961.

To initiate membership, send me an email at pjohnson010@carolina.rr.com and include to the extent possible all the following:

Name/ nick name/ dates in Turkey/ job code/ email address/ mailing address/ phone number

Annual dues of $10.00 are required to initiate membership and are then due every January. Members joining in September or later will become members immediately, but dues will be credited to the next year. Instructions for making out the check will be forwarded to you via email.

Upon receipt of your dues, you will be emailed an MSN Groups invitation. After completing that free registration, you will begin to receive group email.

I hope you’ve found this little introduction to our group interesting, and that you will be interested in joining us. Each new member builds on the combined memories of our assignment to Karamürsel, and you quickly begin to feel that it was a unique time, in a unique location; and that there seems to be something very special about those who were among us at that time. We look forward to hearing from you.

Pete Johnson

USAFSS

292X2 Dog Flight

April 1960 – September 1961

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