CWO JAMES RICHARD BEIDLER participated in the Armed Forces as a US Army Chief Warrant Officer. Trained at Fort Rucker, Alabama, as an AeroMedical Aviator in 1986, he flew "Dust Off' in the US, Panama and in Honduras. As a Reservist until 1997, Jim flew with many Vietnam Veterans . He will be grateful forever for the skill, tradition, and honest patriotism which they willingly shared with him.
When John Glenn returned from orbit to his home in nearby New Concord, Ohio, Jim and his sisters, Anne and Mary, were in the welcoming crowd with their parents. As a small boy, Jim flew with his family to London in a 4 prop Douglas Skymaster DC-4. Their flight to visit grandparents continued to Egypt in one of the new Boeing 707 Jets. In grade school, he flew with his family in / a twin Piper Aztec to Miami, to catch a commercial flight to visit the same grandparents in Puerto Rico. On the way they flew over his home and school and he was ecstatic.
In high school, Jim had to work his way back into the starting line-up for choosing to miss a football practice to fly with his Dad to Harlingen, TX. for a Ghost Squadron Air Show. They paid for a parking space and in it set up a pup tent for the weekend.
The air show was spectacular. There was a mock dog fight between WW 11 fighters. Aerobatics were performed by famous flyers in commercial and military planes including a P-38 Lightning using only one engine. Colonel Paul Tibbetts took off, flew by and landed in "Fifi", the only B-29 still flying. Prince Phillip flew by in his own jet. The Blue Angels were great, but for Jim, six new Army Helicopters stole the show with incredible "side-ways loops" !
A young working man just out of high school, Jim helped a blocklayer mix "mud" and lay blocks. He stood ankle deep in mud, carrying 4 blocks at a time, when a plane flew over. He says that's when he resolved to learn to fly. His solo came on a day when neither he nor his parents expected it. He did it "without them". Since then, they confidently put their lives in his hands on several exciting out-of-State flights in a Piper Cherokee.
At "Mother Rucker" the Army trained Jim to fly helicopters, some of which had many bullet hole patches. His Mom and Dad learned to recognize and to realize the historic significance of the reassuring sound of an approaching UH-1 "Huey", especially those marked with a red cross.
Jim's flying career went on hold , when his 354th Medevac Reserve Unit was phased out of Columbus, Ohio, in 1997 . He deactivated as the Unit's Safety Officer.
He had already become a father, so his wife, Lori, and the rest of the family however proud of him, were glad to see him become a family man. Lori's grandfather, Gerald Leroy Ballard, had been one of three survivors when his troop carrier glider crash landed on D-Day in France.
On November 11, 2000, a "737" took Jim and his Dad to D.C. for the 4th Annual "Flight Jacket" night at the Air and Space Museum in the Smithsonian. The featured speaker was Major General Patrick H. Brady, USA (Ret.) who is a decorated air ambulance helicopter "dust off' pilot from the Vietnam War.