By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
“I served in the U.S. Air Force from May 4, 1950 through May 5, 1954” said Roland Cyr, 80, of Caribou, “and it was in June of 1950, that the Korean War broke out.” During his military service Cyr was a member of the 43rd Bomb Wing, providing security to the fleet of B-50s which transported A-Bombs.
Based at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, Cyr stated, “It all started on August 19, 1950 when we were deployed to Goose Bay, Labrador. When we got up there, it was a very warm pleasant day, no snow but the pot-holes in the road were frozen. Come November, it started getting cold. We were sleeping in tents, none of us had any winter clothes — all we had was 12 parkas — for 72 men.”
Cyr described how each of the 15 bombs (weighing 10,000 pounds each) carried on the B-50s were, of course unarmed and transferred from the belly of the planes to trailers, which in turn were brought into the forested area that would be their ‘base’ while they were in Labrador. “The trailers were spaced about 300 feet apart and our duty as security was to stand watch,” recalled Cyr.
Although the security detail was to keep vigil over the bombs, “We got to the point where sometime during our shifts we would walk toward the next airman, meeting each other midway of the 300 feet, then we would stand back to back, still watching our assigned trailer/bombs, but at least we could talk to each other.”
The area where the 43rd Bomb Wing was nestled amidst an area of small dense trees and the ditches alongside the roadway were quite deep. “There was a large spool of telephone wire near our campsite, so we collected boughs from the trees, wound the wire around them in a figure-eight fashion, creating a shelter of sorts and we used a Whitehouse brand coffee can with a candle in it to help provide a little light and also something to help keep us warm.”
“On Friday afternoon, Nov. 10, 1950, around 3:15 p.m.” said Cyr, “we were headed back to Arizona. Although those of us in security, who flew together on a KC 124, were aware that one of the B-50s had developed a motor problem and we were being diverted to St. Johns Newfoundland — on Saturday morning we were told that we would be landing at, “Limestone Air Force Base,” which was under construction and would later become Loring AFB.”
“Military planes cannot fly over U.S. soil with bombs unless they are disarmed,” said Cyr. What we weren’t aware of was that the bomber which had the engine problem, had unloaded the 10,000 pound payload 15 miles west of River-de-Loup, near St.Andre Village de Kamourska, into the St. Lawrence River — it’s still there to this day.” Cyr stated that it wasn’t until they were back in Arizona and by chance, did the security crew realize that one of the 15 A-bombs had been left behind in the St. Lawrence River.
Going back to the announcement that the servicemen would be landing and having dinner at the Limestone Air Force Base, Cyr replied, “Limestone? That’s right close to where I grew up.” Raised in Van Buren, Cyr stated, “The pilot connected me by phone to my family and they all showed up in Limestone to have dinner with us, that was 60 years ago, Nov. 11, 1950.”
With a quiet smile, the Caribou gentleman spoke of other things that helped keep the men’s morale up during their months spent in Labrador. “Many of our crew were from the South and didn’t know about the Northern Lights, let alone ever seen them. So one night when we were standing on duty, the lights became very bright and they asked what in the world was it that they were seeing. Those of us who knew what they were tried to explain it to the other servicemen — but of course we couldn’t just let it stop there — we told them that the more they could whistle the more the lights would dance — and they believed us and started whistling as hard and loud as they could.”
“Another thing that many of the servicemen had never tasted was maple sugar candy,” said Cyr. “One day I spread some brown sugar on the snow and after it had congealed onto the snow, the men thought that was quite a treat. Everyday from then on someone would bring me a pound of brown sugar to make more candy.”
Roland Cyr is a familiar face in Caribou, having been the manager of the J.C. Penney Store in Caribou for 33 years. “I retired in 1993,” said Cyr, “ the Aroostook Centre Mall opened and the Penney Store was re-located there, opening November 1. I stayed working in the Caribou store until Jan. 1, selling the racks, etc. but when I left, I closed the door and locked it.”
This summer Cyr had a chance to reunite with a former comrade, Roger Martin, who traveled with his wife and daughter from New York to visit. Cyr had been best man at Martin’s wedding but the two hadn’t seen each other in 60 years.
