Robert Dehner

After graduating from high school, I went on to enlist in the US Navy in May of 1968 and did my boot camp in Great Lakes. From there I attended Aviation Machinist Mate specialty school in Memphis Tenn. and then I was transferred on to a Naval base, NAS Lemoore, in California. As I settled into life as a sailor at Lemoore, I was assigned to the base Helicopters and Aircraft. I went on to become a plane captain and received my aircrew wings on fix-wing aircraft and helicopters. I became a member of the Air Search and Rescue Team going out on missions hoping to save the lives of those in perilous circumstances or to make a recovery. I met my wife, Debbie, at a dance, some of us sailors would go to, trying to meet some good looking gals, in our off time. At first, I didn't think I had a chance with her, but I was persistent and turned on my charm, Ha Ha. We were married about a year and a half later, so I must have done something right and we are still happily married after 47 years. When my required time in the Navy, eight years of service, came to an end, Debbie and I relocated to San Jose, Ca. and I went to work for United Aircraft, where we built the boosters for the Apollo space program. We were blessed with our first born child four yrs later, and our lives changed forever. After several years of commuting every day, we decided we wanted a little slower pace and be closer to family, so we moved to Clovis, California and we had our second child. I worked 26 years as an auto technician, I enrolled in college, received my A/S degree and then went on to work for a school district. I became the supervisor in Transportation at night and retired after 15 years of service. Over the years, I also felt the desire to still serve our country and had joined the California Air National Guard, traveled and served our country in many parts of the world and retired from military service as an E-7 Master Sergeant, after serving a total of 30 years. We are now happily retired, have two furry babies we love and enjoy traveling, spending time with family and love antiquing, looking for new treasures. We look forward to many new adventures, enjoying life, and meeting new friends along the way.

While stationed at N.A.S. Lemoore Ca. I earned my aircrewman wings and H-34, H-2 and H-1 "Huey" helicopter. I was a plane captain on S-2, C-1 (Cod) fixed wing station aircraft that were attached to the base.
In Calif. Air National Guard I was attached to POL as a Fuel Specialist. We traveled to places like Curacao,(in the Caribbean) Prince Sultan in Saudi Arabia and Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii. As far as awards I received a back seat ride in an F-16 Flying Falcon. I did some airtime in planes and helicopter, but this was the cream of it all.

Debbie and I felt the climate, job opportunities, and the recreational activities was the major factors for us in calling the Central Valley our home in Clovis, California.