Members of the Misawa USAF Security Service held their 2018 reunion in Branson, MO, August 8 – 12, 2018.
Tunnel Rat band member, Harold Hollingshed, served at Misawa Air Force base in the USAFSS during the Cold War. He and his fellow Tunnel Rats band members traveled to Branson and entertained the group with an impromptu jam Thursday night and on stage Friday evening, August 10th.
See pictures of the event in our Flickr Album
United States Air Force Intelligence
Recognizing the growing importance of electronic intelligence following World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, the United States Air Force established the USAF Security Service (USAFSS) in 1947 which evolved to the current Air Force Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AF ISR) Agency.
Unable to speak about the specifics of their work, veteran, Russ Butcher describes their service best in his poem:
Silent Warriors
by Russ ButcherWhat is the make-up of this breed,
these strange and special few?
Where do they come from, year-on-year?
What is it that they do?They are like shadows in the night
or vapor in the air,
so seldom seen and rarely heard
but rest assured, they’re thereThey come not from a single place,
they come from far and wide,
the open plains, the city streets,
the rural countrysideThey are the farmer’s little boy,
the girl who lived next door,
the uncle of a high school friend
who gave his life at warThey are the barber’s youngest child
who heard his country call,
or friends with whom we laughed and sipped
whose names are on “THE WALL”And what they do, you needn’t ask
for none will ever tell,
in silence based on “need to know”
they proudly serve so wellThey’re much the same as all before
who vanquished freedom’s foe,
they are the ones who fuel the fire
which keeps THE TORCH aglow.
Learn more about the USAF Security Service history and the “Misawa Family.”