[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 54 (Monday, April 16, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2315-S2316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TRIBUTE TO MASTER SERGEANT CHARLES ROBERT `BOB' STOKES

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
distinguished veteran of our Nation's great Armed Forces, Master 
Sergeant Charles Robert ``Bob'' Stokes of East Bernstadt, KY. MSG 
Stokes enlisted in the United States Air Force on June 6, 1955. He had 
just graduated from London High School the week before; he was 18 years 
old.
  There was a wide variety of disciplines Bob could have entered within 
the Air Force. He prayed all throughout his basic training for God to 
put him in the field he would be best suited to. Being the son of a 
mechanic, he possessed natural tendencies to fix things, and had worked 
on machinery previously in his life. So after much praying, Bob was 
assigned to be an aircraft mechanic, an act he later would refer to as 
a ``divine intervention.''

[[Page S2316]]

  Stokes had never traveled much before the service, but he soon found 
himself stationed all around the country at Air Force bases in 
Missouri, Arkansas, and Puerto Rico, to name a few. Stokes eventually 
landed a spot on the presidential squadron put in charge of the famous 
presidential aircraft, Air Force One. He was part of that outfit 
throughout the administrations of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and 
Gerald Ford.
  Stokes's career in the Air Force continued to prove fortuitous. He 
saw the world through the window of Air Force One, visiting places that 
he had dreamed of seeing his entire life. He witnessed monumental 
historic events, like Nixon's resignation, from an arm's length away. 
He executed his job superbly, ensuring the President would always 
arrive safely on the ground. And finally, Bob received the greatest 
benefit he would ever come across while running the presidential 
squadron, meeting his wife Varlene. She too was serving on Andrews AFB 
at the time.
  Bob and Varlene retired to East Bernstadt in 1976, where they reside 
to this day. The two have three children--Robert Jr., Tricia, and Ward, 
all of whom appreciate the dedication their mother and father have 
shown to our great Nation throughout the years.
  Mr. President, in November 2011 there was an article published in 
Laurel County, Kentucky's local periodical magazine, the Sentinel Echo: 
Silver Edition. The article noted the accomplishments of Mr. Stokes 
throughout his many years of service in the United States Air Force.
  At this time, Mr. President, it is my wish that my colleagues in the 
United States Senate join me in honoring Master Sergeant Charles Robert 
Stokes for his dedication to our great country; and I ask unanimous 
consent that said article be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to appear in the 
Record as follows:

          [From the Sentinel-Echo: Silver Edition, Nov. 2011]

                         History in the Making

                          (By Carrie Dillard)

       When retired Master Sergeant Charles Robert ``Bob'' Stokes 
     was in basic training at Sampson Air Force Base, N.Y., 
     waiting to speak to a counselor about which career field he 
     would be best suited for, he prayed.
       Having enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, Stokes knew he 
     couldn't be a cook--he can't cook, he said, but he likes to 
     eat. He didn't want to be an air policeman either. But he had 
     a mechanical background, came by it honest from his father. 
     ``It was in my blood,'' he said.
       So when only two men in his class were assigned to be in 
     aircraft mechanics, Stokes called it divine intervention--a 
     guiding hand that led him into the company of presidents, and 
     ultimately to meet his wife.
       Stokes graduated from London High School on May 28, 1955. 
     He went into the service on June 6.
       ``I didn't have a summer vacation that year,'' he said. But 
     he would get to see and experience many places in the United 
     States and around the world that he had never dreamed of 
     visiting.
       For a small town boy from Laurel County, New York was quite 
     a culture shock.
       ``How green I was,'' he said. ``I'd never even seen a pizza 
     in my life, never tasted one until I went to New York. It 
     looked terrible.''
       But Stokes changed his mind about the pizza, and adapted to 
     his new surroundings, albeit with a lot of homesickness. He 
     completed aircraft and engine school in Amarillo, Texas, and 
     was then stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo.
       ``I was a homesick boy,'' Stokes said. ``I don't think I'd 
     been any place other than Ohio and Tennessee before that, 
     besides Kentucky.''
       At 18 years old, he was the youngest crew chief, or 
     ``glorified mechanic,'' at Whiteman AFB, maintaining B 47s. 
     He'd later be stationed in Arkansas, Puerto Rico, and back to 
     Missouri again, where he received orders to deploy to Guam.
       Stokes was aboard B 52s, flying combat missions over 
     Vietnam. As a crew chief, Stokes would fly beside the pilot.
       ``I supposed it made the pilot feel better knowing there 
     was someone beside him who knew how to fix the plane,'' he 
     said.
       As the person who made sure the craft was ``airworthy'' by 
     keeping it properly maintained and fueled up, it was rare for 
     Stokes not to feel confident in an airplane. He said there 
     was only one time when he felt like he might perish in one. 
     It was during his time at Andrews Air Force Base.
       Stokes was stationed at Andrews AFB during the 
     administrations of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald 
     Ford. He saw the world through the window of Air Force One, 
     as a crew chief on the presidential squadron.
       The presidential outfit was made up of 30 to 40 planes to 
     be used by anyone from the president or vice president to 
     cabinet officials. There were smaller jets used to shuttle 
     dignitaries between Andrews AFB and Camp David, and Marine 
     helicopters to fly the president back and forth between the 
     White House and Andrews. Stokes was assigned to a VC 135, a 
     plush plane strictly for VIP travel.
       As a man who loves to study history, the 74-year-old 
     realizes now, more than ever, that he had a ``window'' into 
     American and world history.
       ``I saw history,'' he said. ``The poor people's march on 
     Washington, riots of the 1960s, Watergate.''
       He remembers the day Nixon returned from a diplomatic trip 
     to China. It was the first time a U.S. president had visited 
     the People's Republic of China, strongly considered an 
     adversary at the time.
       ``It [the trip] was very hush-hush,'' said Stokes. ``But 
     when he came back, they let all the Air Force personnel and 
     their families know about it. We gathered around the hangar 
     as he taxied into the hangar.''
       He also remembers the day Nixon resigned. Actually, he saw 
     him leave.
       ``When Nixon left, he got on a plane to California,'' 
     Stokes said. ``We liked Nixon. But he got involved in that 
     Watergate.''
       On the flight where he thought he might perish, the 
     presidential squadron had flown a delegation to a state 
     funeral in Brazil. While it was standard to fly with enough 
     fuel to make a landing at nearby alternate locations, the 
     plane was nearly to their destination when they discovered 
     the airport had closed. Low visibility and haze kept the 
     plane from landing in Brazil, and they burned up most of the 
     fuel circling the runway.
       ``I was sweating bullets. It was the closest I've ever come 
     to losing my life in an aircraft.''
       Truth be told, Stokes didn't want to go to Andrews AFB in 
     1967 when he was selected.
       ``I tried to get out of it, Stokes said. ``I was on B 52s, 
     in combat, making combat pay, I was staff sergeant. I was 
     living pretty good.''
       Andrews AFB had the safest flight record and highest 
     standard of excellence in maintenance. ``If you were 
     selected, you were the cream of the crop. You had to be good 
     or you wouldn't last,'' Stokes said.
       But at the time, he didn't know what Andrews was all about; 
     he didn't even know what he'd been selected for.
       Upon arrival at Andrews AFB, SSG Stokes was escorted into 
     the hangar bay by a master sergeant. Another master sergeant, 
     at the time, was taking out the trash.
       ``I thought it was unusual to see a master sergeant doing 
     this type of work, and what are they going to be having me, 
     the staff sergeant, doing, scrubbing toilets,'' he said.
       ``But that's just the way it was. The master sergeant 
     (escorting me) told me `every man on crew takes a turn at 
     hangar detail.' '' And they did.
       ``We'd sweep and mop that hangar floor. You could eat off 
     it. I'd wax and polish the airplanes. Nobody was scared to 
     work.''
       Besides, it had to be perfect. It was the home of the Air 
     Force One, and Stokes had just made presidential squadron.
       ``When we were overseas, nobody would touch that airplane 
     but me,'' Stokes said. ``I'd check the oil, pre-flight and 
     post-flight and put it to bed.''
       Upon landing anywhere in the world, Stokes would service 
     the plane, fuel it up and make sure it was ready to go for 
     the return trip. He was the last person to see and touch the 
     plane before guards were stationed around the plane--inside 
     the hangar and outside the hangar. No other soul was getting 
     near it.
       It's why one night when Stokes got a call that he needed to 
     check the plane due to a bomb threat, he said ``no way.'' He 
     was confident how he'd left the plane.
       ``I said no way,'' he said. ``But we had to inspect it. I 
     went over it from top to bottom, couldn't find anything.''
       But tensions were high then. Not long after the alleged 
     bomb threat, they heard word there'd been an attack on the 
     Vice President's (Spiro Agnew) motorcade in Dallas, Texas. 
     However, it wasn't a sniper, but heat, that had made the back 
     window shatter on the car.
       Stokes met his wife, Varlene, while serving at Andrews AFB. 
     She was working for the Department of Agriculture at the 
     time. The two met at a cookout hosted by a mutual friend.
       Although Stokes claimed he was a ``confirmed bachelor'' at 
     the age of 31, he said Varlene ``changed his mind.'' They 
     were married in October 1968.
       ``The best thing that ever happened to me was meeting 
     her,'' he said.
       The couple raised three children--Robert Jr., Tricia, and 
     Ward. After every trip, Stokes would bring home a boon for 
     his young family. A spoon for Bobby, a doll for Tricia, and 
     foreign coins for his wife, Varlene, although he wasn't 
     actually supposed to keep the coins. ``We were supposed to 
     turn them in before we left the country,'' he said. The 
     Stokes's third child, Ward, wouldn't come along until after 
     he left Andrews AFB, missing out on the collections.
       The couple retired to East Bernstadt in 1976, where they 
     still live today.
       ``The more you look back on it, I'm just blessed,'' Stokes 
     said.

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