Buck Matthews
Dogpatch Days
Recollections of a Non-Combatant in the Combat Zone
T.C.'s Light Bulb
January 20, 1952 runway event at K10--Generals Van Fleet and Ridgway meet with Korean President Syngman Rhee. (Above L-R) General Van Fleet, President Rhee and BGen Turner C. (TeeCee) Rogers, Commander of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing in Korea from 1951-1952.
When I was still at K-10, things were still pretty loose militarily.
Inspections of quarters were unheard of and we could pretty much do anything we wanted to with our areas. Some guys just piled their gear on the floor and some went fancy.
I was utilitarian.
I built a footlocker out of scrap from base salvage and found a shipping container that worked nicely as a wall desk. I made a desk lamp out of spare parts and a beer can, but I couldn’t find a light bulb.
A guy in my Quonset hut was a telephone repairman and a couple of days later, he came into the radio shack and handed me a 25W bulb.
It worked great and only later did I find out that he’d swiped it from General Rogers’ bed lamp when he went in to fix his phone.
A good many letters home were written by the light of T. C.’s bulb.
BGen Turner C. Rogers.
© Copyright 2008 Buck Matthews. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes without permission in writing from the author. Used with permission by BelleAire Press as a tribute to those American servicemen and women who served during the Korean War.