Retiree Appreciation Day

Erich Haring joined the Air Force in 1967 to do something good for his country. As an E-4, he fixed F4 Phantom jets. "We'd fix them, load them, and fly them again as fast as we could go," said Haring, before mentioning the accident that left him medically retired. "I tangled with a sidewinder missile, and I lost." said Haring. "But you wouldn't believe how lucky I was." The unguided missile went off while Haring was working on the plane. The missile missed the line truck, a load full of 500-pound bombs, and a crew chief before shattering into revetment wall. The missile missed Haring's head by a quarter of an inch but he still suffered serious injury. "When you lose a piece of yourself – in this case it was my arm – it takes a lot of adjusting," said Haring. "At first I asked if I could stay in. I have a lot of knowledge; I could do something." The military did not keep him, and Haring started his road to recovery. Haring admits that the adjustment was hard, but he also remembered recognizing how lucky he was as he looked at others in hospital beds around him, which took his breath away, he said. Haring feels lucky that he did not face post-traumatic stress, reflecting on those that came before him, including his father. "My dad was in WWII. He was in some of that awful stuff like you saw in Vietnam," said Haring. "In fact, until the day he died he couldn't talk about it. I think about it all the time, and not just him – others too." (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Jodi Martinez)