North High School Wall of Honor Harold Wayne Bingaman Class of January, 1949
Research done by Claradell Shedd, Class of 1953. PAGE IN PROGRESS
Harold graduated from North High in the January, 1949 class. He enlisted in the Iowa Air National Guard/Des Moines Airport in 1948. 124 Fighter Squadron. He joined the US Air Force when the group was federalized on April 25, 1951. At that time, his rank was Staff Sergeant. At the time of his enlistment, his next of kin was Mr. Harlan W. Bingaman, located at 1615 Lynn Street, Des Moines, IA. His serial number is 30779A.
Harold Wayne Bingaman Year x Rank x Status 1948 x Enlisted x Enlisted at the Des Moines Municipal Airport in the Iowa Air National Guard/124th Fighter Squadron, 132nd Fighter Wing. January, 1949 x x x Graduated from North High, Des Moines, IA 1949-1951 x Student x Drake University. April 25, 1951 x US Air Force/ SSgt. x Joined the US Air Force when the group federalized. Staff Sergeant. 1951 x Training x Dow Field, Bangor, ME 1952 x Training x Aviation Cadet Training; Columbus Air Force Base, MS June, 1953 x Training/ 2nd Lt. x Laredo Air Force Base, TX. Training in T28's and T-33's. 1953 x Training x Gunnery Training; Del Rio, TX. Training in F-80 "Shooting Star" 1953 x Training x Gunnery Training; Luke Air Force Base, AZ. Training in F-84. Fall, 1953- 1957 x US Air Force/Lt. x Langley Field, VA; 405th Fighter Group; 510 Fighter Squadron. 1957-1959 x US Air Force/Lt. x RAF Station;* Shepherds Grove, England, UK. Flying F-84 and F-101 Voodoo. Family made transoceanic trip on SS United States. Dec.1958- early 1959 x x x TDY to return to States and bring back the F-101 Voodoo, Models A and C (one seaters) to the RAF station at Woodbridge (see *note below). Trip was TX, NC, Bermuda, Azores, Casablanca, Shepherds Grove. 81st Fighter Wing; 78th Fighter Squadron. 1960- Feb., 1961 x US Air Force/ Capt. x Air Maintenance Officers School, Chanute Air Field, IL. 1961- Summer,1964 x x x Air Defense Command, **Kingsley Field, Klamath Falls, OR. F-101 Voodoo, Model B (two seater). 322nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron June, 1964- Feb., 1966 x US Air Force/ Major x Reassignment to K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Marquette, MI. Flying F-101 Voodoo, Model B. Maintenance. 62nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron. *** 1966 x Training x Nellis Air Force Base, NV for Combat Crew Training Squadron. F-105 "Thud" (shown below). Relocated family back to Des Moines, since my assignment was to Thailand/Vietnam. Sept.,1966- June, 1967 x Enroute x Philippines for Jungle Survival School. Sept. 1966- June, 1967 x Combat x Vietnam. Flying Republic F105. Royal Thailand Air Force Base; Takhli, Thailand. XXX missions. As noted below, his wing commander was Colonel Robert Ray Scott, North High, Class of January, 1939. date x x x Hamilton Air Force Base, CA (Novato, CA north of San Francisco) date x Retired x Discharge. Where? date x Civilian x Ashland, OR. date x x x Established 510th Fighter Squadron Organization which meets annually
*RAF Shepherd Grove, UK RAF Shepherds Grove is a former Royal Air Force base in Suffolk England 9 miles NE of Bury St Edmunds. The base was built for the United States Army Air Force Eighth Air Force during World War II. However the facility was not used by the USAAF and was opened by 3 Group, RAF on 3 April 1944. The name came from a small copse nearby and the airfield is close to Walsham le Willows in Suffolk. It was occupied by 196 squadron in January 1945 as a base for Operation Varsity, supporting the Rhine crossing. After World War II F-86A Sabres of the United States Air Force 116th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron were stationed there in August 1951. The 116th FIS was a mobilized Air National Guard squadron from Washington State assigned to the newly-activated 81st Fighter-Bomber Wing. In September the 91st and 92d FIS arrived at Shepherds Grove from Moses Lake AFB, Washington to complete the complement of squadrons assigned to the 81st FBW. The 81st FBW however, did not stay at Shepherds Grove long, moving Wing Headquarters to RAF Bentwaters in late September 1951, and relocating the 91st FIS with them. The 116th FIS returned to state control in November 1952 and was replaced by the 78th FIS. With the move of the 81st FBW headquarters to Bentwaters, the 7519th Air Base Squadron was the administrative USAFE host unit. In mid-1953, the 78th and 92d FIS upgraded their F-86A models to F-86F's, in preparation for the arrival of the F-84F "Thunderstreak" in April 1954. With the arrival of the F-84s, the squadrons names were changed to Fighter-Bomber squadron. Markings of the 78th FIS F-84s were a three-beamed, black-trimmed red sunburst design. The 92d covered almost the entire vertical stabilizer above the horizontal stabilizer with yellow, with a diagonal line. In March 1955 the 92d FIS was reassigned to the 406th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at RAF Manston and re-equipped with F-86Ds but remained at Shepherds Grove. In September 1955, the 87th was re-designated the 512th FIS. The 78th FIS moved to RAF Sculthorpe in May 1956. The 78th briefly returned to Shepherds Grove in May 1957 before leaving for good to RAF Woodbridge in December 1958 when the USAF turned Shepherds Grove to the Ministry of Defence.
**Kingsley Field; Klamath Falls, OR During tenure at Kingsley two significant events occurred. (1) Attended William Tell Interceptor Weaons Meet at Tyndall Field, FL (rocketry competition) flying F-101 Voodoo, Model B. Group placed 2nd, but our loading crew took 1st place. (2) Moved family in Fall of 1963 to Omaha, NE where I attended and graduated from the University of Nebraska. Time frame was Fall of 1963 through June of 1964.
***K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Marquette, MI During tenate at Sawyer, two significant events occurred. (1) Attended William Tell Interceptor Weapons Meet at Tyndall Field, FL (rocketry competition) flying F-101 Voodoo category. I was the the aircraft maintenance officer and developed the team. We won the World Championship. (2) 1966: Aircraft Maintenance Staff School; Chanute Field, Il. The most outstanding training in my military experience. 1966: Nellis Air Force Base, NV for Combat Crew Training Squadron. F-105 "Thud" (shown below). Relocated family back to Des Moines, since my assignment was to Thailand.
In April of 1953, the squadron relocated to Langley AFB, VA and transitioned to the North American F-100 Super Sabre (below). In 1959, the 510th moved to Clark AFB, Philippines. 1955: (F-84F below) 510th F-84F Flight; West Palm Beach, FL Veterans' Day Flyby at Miami Beach, FL Wing: Gene Bolin, Flt. Cmdr. (first designed fighter-atomic-bomber); (from left) Captain John Smith; Lt. Hal Bingaman; Lt. Dick Hill
F105 Thud; Thailand 510th Ftr. Sqd. F105 Thuds; RTAFB, Takhli, Thailand At the start of the Vietnam War, the 510th established a new home at Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam. The 510th flew over 27,200 combat missions in Southeast Asia. Hal was stationed at the Royal Thailand Air Force Base in Takhli, Thailand under Wing Commander Robert Ray Scott, North High, Class of January, 1939.
graphic   (left) sample: Enroute to Guam on escorted transport ship. Trip took 30 days zigzagging around the Pacific.   text   photo
Harold Wayne Bingaman 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron 405 Fighter Group United States Air Force Bingaman photo
References The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of North High School graduates can be found online at: http://ndmhs.com/. Harold Wayne Bingaman's 1949 class page is: http://ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1949(2009.60).html.
03/01/10; Living in Ashland, OR.
Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"
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