LESLIE  AND DEBRA VAN HEESWYK

My parents are Jake and Mary (Groesbeck) Van Heeswyk. Mary Groesbeck lived north of Afton and Jake Van Heeswyk lived south of Afton. Jake graduated from Thayer High School and Mary from Afton. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in June 2007 and have always lived at 302 South Browning Street, Afton, Iowa. In fact they were married in the living room of that house. My dad was a mechanic for over 50 years and my mom was a stay-at-home mom until after I graduated from high school. She then went to work at Purolator, then Hills-McKenna, and later at Bunn-O-Matic all in Creston. At Hills-McKenna one of the items she helped to manufacture was a part used on the T-38 aircraft. The T-38 was one of the planes I flew while in the Air Force. I don't know if she made the piece for an aircraft I flew, but it was fun to know that it was a possibility.

I went to East Union School in Afton. The school was consolidated by the time I went into junior high. I was always small but I played football, baseball, basketball, track and was captain of the football team. (He protested when Deb remarked that he excelled in all those sports but credited his lettering in all of them to it being a small school. Even though he was class salutatorian, second in his class at graduation, he insisted that he was not intellectually above average. He modestly remarked that he was very blessed.)

The reason for my going to the Air Force Academy just out of high school was that Dale Mauer, the father of my best friend, Bob Mauer, was a liaison officer for the Air Force Academy. He was in the Air National Guard in Des Moines, associated with the Air Force and volunteered to serve as a liaison officer for the Air Force Academy. I was one of several kids he interested in that career. I intended to go to college but hadn't selected which one, so when he suggested I try the Academy, talked to me about how I would get to fly and all that good stuff, I agreed to try. There were tests and a physical, I took them, was selected and headed to Colorado Springs, CO right after high school graduation.

I credit all my high school teachers and especially Mrs Helen Ricks, my high school math teacher, for my doing well on the tests and in the following years at the Academy. I expected to have a rough time because I came from a small school and had no advanced courses, but I was blessed and did well overall. The Academy was very science/engineering oriented, and because of Mrs. Ricks, in the first four semesters of math, I ended up being #1 in three of the four. In general I did okay and was on the honor roll all four years. Class-wise the Academy is similar to other colleges, except that in most of the colleges 15-16 credit hours are considered a full load. Our curriculum included military studies and P.E.(physical education), so each semester we averaged a few more than 20 credit hours, which is a fairly heavy load. Another element affected my doing well — although girls are enrolled now, at that time there were no girls, and we were pretty much restricted in what we could do. When there weren't many options, we decided we might as well study.

Tn my senior year I was selected to be the commander of my squadron, each squadron being about a hundred guys. I graduated in the upper part of my class and received what they call a Blue Chip, which meant that I could go for my master's degree within a few years after graduation. I joke about never going to a real college, because I received my undergraduate degree at the Academy and my master's at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), another Air Force school.

We are getting into infolmation that is given in detail in the brochure that was prepared for my retirement service, June 29, 1998, at Langley AFB, Virginia. The presiding officer for the ceremony was Brigadier General William A. Peck, Jr., Director of Requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command. The following is from that brochure:

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We honor Colonel Leslie R. Van Heeswyk at today's ceremonies for his over 25 years of distinguished service in our United States Air Force.

Colonel Van Heeswyk was born January 26, 1951 in Creston, Iowa and graduated in 1969 from East Union Community High School in Afton, Iowa. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1973, and received a Master's Degree in Operations Research from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1983. His professional military education includes Squadron Officer school, Air Command and Staff College, and National Security Management.

Receiving his commission as a Second Lieutenant from the United States Air Force Academy in June 1973, he entered Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus AFB, Mississippi in August the same year. Following graduation from pilot training in October 1974, he attended Pilot Instructor Training at Randolph AFB, Texas and was reassigned to Columbus AFB in February 1975, as a T-38 instructor pilot of the 50th Flying Training Squadron.

In May 1978, he attended the KC-135 Combat Crew Training Course at Castle AFB, California, and was assigned to the 46th Air Refueling Squadron at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan in September 1978. While at K.I. Sawyer he served as a pilot and instructor pilot in the KC-135.

From August 1981 to March 1983, he was at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio studying for his master's degree. A distinguished graduate of the Strategic and Tactical Sciences Program, he was assigned to Headquarters Strategic Air Command Offutt AFB, Nebraska as an analyst and air operations officer in the Plans Directorate in March 1983.

Following this staff tour in June 1986, he volunteered and was selected to fly the U-2 with the 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale AFB, California.

While in the 99th, he served as a U-2 pilot, instructor pilot, squadron director of training, and squadron operations officer. He was also selected to serve as operations officer and commander on two contingency deployments before becoming the senior advisor/executive officer for the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Commander.

In May 1990, Colonel Van Heeswyk assumed command of the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron at Royal AFB Alconbury, United Kingdom. During the next year his squadron provided support to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing forces deployed to Southwest Asia during Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. In June 1991, the 17th Reconnaissance Wing was inactivated and Colonel Van Heeswyk was assigned to Headquarters Strategic Air Command Offutt AFB, Nebraska as Chief of the Command and Control Systems Division, Deputy Chief of Staff for Requirements.

In November 1991, Colonel Van Heeswyk was selected as a member of the Commander-in-Chief Strategic Air Command's Staff Group. In June 1992, when Strategic Air Command and Tactical Air Command combined, Colonel Van Heeswyk was assigned to the new United States Strategic Air Command as the Chief of the Reconnaissance Section, Operations and Logistics Directorate.

He was promoted to colonel in July 1995, and assumed duties the same month as the Deputy Chief of the Reconnaissance and Surveillance Division, Directorate of Requirements, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia.

A command pilot, Colonel Van Heeswyk has flown over 2900 hours in the U-2/TR-1, KC-135, and T-38 aircraft. His military decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster, and Joint Service Achievement Medal.

Colonel Van Heeswyk is married to the former Debra Jane Shields of Liberty Center, Iowa, and they have two children, Ryan and Tracie. After retirement, the Van Heeswyk family will remain in the local area.

To commemorate Colonel Van Heeswyk's retirement from the United States Air Force, a special flag will be presented to him today. This flag was flown at the United States Capital, Washington, D.C., Headquarters Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Virginia, over the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale AFB, California, and carried aloft in a U-2S.

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Mention was made of the squadron's support of Desert Shield and Desert Storm. It was while we were stationed in England and I was squadron commander of the TR-1 unit (the TR-1 is basically the same aircraft as the U-2 with minor wiring differences). I sent my pilots, and even though I personally didn't fly missions, they were in the thick of things and all very aware of what was going on. The U-2 mission is intelligence collection and the guys would come back and talk about what they saw when they were flying in orbit over the battle (you can see quite a ways when you are above 70,000 feet). It was pretty spectacular, but also a little eerie with the bombs going off and the Service to Air Missiles (SAMs) being fired. None of them were shot down or injured which was a true blessing and I know they provided critical support to our troops.

In addition to ours, "support" came also from the community, both in the United States and England. School kids wrote letters, their mothers and the wives made homemade cookies and candy that our men delivered as they rotated aircraft to the battle. I couldn't tell when the planes would go, but I could say, "You had better have things ready Thursday." Visible support was yellow ribbons the wives put all around the base.

The brochure gave a fairly thorough report of my military career. What they didn't tell, of course, was my personal life. I met my wife, Debra Jane Shields, through a very dear friend, Donovan ("Swede") Kennedy, Deb's uncle who was from Afton. He had joined the Air Force and was stationed at the Air Force Academy. Deb's dad, Bill Shields, and Donovan were good friends, and Bill told Donovan that I was at the Academy and to look me up and take care of an Afton boy. He did. He worked in Cadet Supply, and we became good friends. Through that relationship, I met Deb. There was another connection. Cadets sometimes have active duty sponsors and my English teacher, Capt Rich Campbell, had adopted our squadron. He invited us to his apartment at different times just to get us away from the academy, so he came to know us personally. When he met Deb, he told her that I was going to marry her. Deb said, "I was surprised, embarrassed and excited, too. He said he had never seen Les so smitten." No question about it, I was. And he was right. We were married July 6, 1974.

There was an interesting situation. In the military you earn leave each month, so I earned vacation while on vacation. Just after graduation, I had about three months off (I earned 7 1/2 leave days during my leave) before I was to report for pilot training in Columbus, Mississippi. A good friend of mine, Jim Canard, was getting married in Washington state. He and I loaded up his Blazer and drove across country from Colorado. Occasionally we stopped to fish — sometimes probably illegally because we didn't have a license in every state. Buzzie, the girl he was marrying, had a Cocker Spaniel that we took with us. We were at a stream fishing for trout, when the dog disappeared. We stayed an extra night trying unsuccessfully to find him. The only thing we could figure out was that the dog had attempted to cross the stream to be with Jim and was washed down the stream and drowned. Buzzie still married Jim even though we lost her dog.

Bill McKenzie was another close friend and we were roommates at pilot training. He purchased a motorcycle and encouraged me to buy one. Here we were in a class, going through pilot training, for which we had to be physically okay — no broken fingers, hands, arms or legs —risking life and limb hill-climbing on our trail bikes. On weekends we'd go to Alabama and ride the "Pipeline." I didn't think much about it at the time, but looking back, I have to admit that wasn't a very smart thing to do. However, we had no troubles. We didn't break anything that prevented us from going on with the program.

I guess I have to confess to being a collector because I still have that motorcycle, and another old vehicle. At the academy we couldn't have a car until our senior year, at which time some banks offered cadets loans for four years, two to three percent interest, no payments the first year. In 1971, the offer was $5,500, which happened to be the price of a new Corvette, I bought a new Corvette at Howlett's Chevrolet in Des Moines, Iowa. I still have my 1971 Corvette. And I still have the same wife I married in 1974, which is good! In these days it is even a little unusual. Deb remarked, "We're like the dinosaurs. Married couples are growing extinct."

Through my career, I've met some great folks and been blessed to have flown some great airplanes. The highlight for me was probably being able to fly the U-2/TR-1, of course that comes right after getting married and having two great kids. It was a great airplane to fly because we flew high — above 70,000 feet — and could see far — almost 300 miles, when the visibility was good. You could see the earth's features and how they changed. I also was able to go to many places around the world, including: Alaska, Barents Sea, Central America, Cypress, Germany, Golan Heights, Guam, Key West, Korea (where our son is now in 2007), Puerto Rico, Sinai Peninsula, and South America. That was fun, the bad thing was, I was gone from home quite a bit.

We had moved to Virginia in 1995, and after retiring from the Air Force in 1998, I worked as a contractor for the military and the U-2 program at Langley AFB until November 2004. We enjoyed our time in Virginia, but we wanted to "move-back" and spend time with our folks and family while they and we are still getting around. I'm very blessed (again!) because of my military retirement pay, so I decided to see if we could get by if I didn't get a job. I haven't had a paying job since, but Deb has worked as a teacher's assistant. I quote my friend Donovan Kennedy, who was quite a jokester. He always said that when he retired, he would become a go-getter. He would take his wife to work and go-get-Ger. That is what I've become. I take my wife to work and I go-get-'er.

I have a variety of activities that keep me moving. Hunting, fishing, golfing, cutting wood, and piddling around with cars, lawnmowers, motorcycles, and pretty much anything mechanical. I've gotten involved in the Airport Commission, American Legion, and the TODA committee. Deb and I were asked and consented to be part of a reading program with elementary school children. We attend the First Baptist Church on South Fillmore in Osceola.

After reading through this I realized I failed to mention some very important things in my life, my children! They are, Eric born in 1977, Ryan born in 1978, and Tracie born in 1980. Eric was born premature, weighing only two pounds four ounces, and was only with us for three days. Ryan was a bit early too, weighing only two pounds fourteen ounces, but after a fairly lengthy stay in the neo-natal intensive care unit in Tupelo, Mississippi, is now healthy, in the Army, stationed in Korea, due back in the US in September 2007. Tracie was only a wee bit early, weighing five pounds 15 3/4 ounces, but was born at K.I. Sawyer AFB on the upper peninsula of Michigan, so her and Ryan have differed on critical issues just like the "North" and "South" many years ago. I think they are over it now, though. She is married to Stephen Renfrow, a great North Carolina guy, who is finishing his fourth year of medical school at Brody School of Medicine in Greenville North Carolina. We have one "Grandpup," Reese. Notice no grandchildren — that is ok with us, but if God wants to give us some that would be great too.

I am sometimes asked my opinion of what is happening presently (2007). I have no more information than anyone else, but my opinion is that we need to support the President. Our saying that we need to get our troops out of there seems to me to aid the enemy, the terrorists, more than it aids us. Criticism gives them reason to believe that what they are doing is working because it is causing an uproar in the United States. We tend to forget that hindsight is 20/20. The leaders made the best decision they could with the information they had at the time. We can't blame the leaders for not knowing the future.

DEB

My parents, Bill and Shirley Shields had seven children, chronologically, Dianna, Michael, then me, Denise, Scott, Kristi, and Shelly. We are very close. I was born in Creston, lived in Afton for one year and moved to Des Moines for twelve years. We moved to the farm close to Liberty Center. My dad was an Electrical Engineer at Johnson Electric for 38 years, in addition to farming. We grew almost everything we ate. We would butcher 200 chickens every summer. We would clean 36 chickens in a day and have fried chicken for supper.

If I were to summarize my life, I would want to give credit where credit is due. I was an awful sinner until Christ came into my life, and anything that I do is for Him. My life verses are "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."(Philippians 4:13) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for that is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." We draw strength from Isaiah 40:31, "For they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not be faint." Our kids found those verses helpful in many of life's circumstances. They prayed them while they were running track, and it gave them strength. "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness."(II Timothy 3:16)

It is possible that my spiritual inclination dates back to when I was 10 years old. We had a custodian at our school, Mr. Lemon, who was an incredible man. As a preschooler, I wasn't supposed to cross the street but I would race across to see him. He was strong and tall, and he would reach down and pull me up through the window into the school classroom. He let me dust erasers or do whatever I could do to help him. It made me feel very important. Then he would carry me on his shoulders like the Good Shepherd, take me back home, and say to my mother, "Mrs. Shields, promise me that when I leave you won't spank Debra for crossing the street." Mama would promise, but just after she closed the door, she paddled the daylights out of me, telling me not to cross the street again. The next day I would do the same thing. He took us to Sunday School, Wednesday night church, and Bible School. When we moved to the farm, Mr. Lemon didn't live where he could take us so we didn't attend church very often. As I was growing up I did all sorts of vile things, but I guess that is when you grow. When Les and I were married, I started going back to church. In September 1986, when we were in California, I gave my life to Christ. The pastor had read from Isaiah 6:8: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me." That was my personal response.

We are blessed with two beautiful children, Ryan and Tracie. Our first son, Eric was premature, weighing two pounds and four ounces at birth. He only lived three days, April 7 to April 10, 1977. He was born on Good Friday and died on Easter Sunday. I thought, what better day for our son to die than on the day we celebrate Christ's rebirth? It was hard but God strengthened us. About a year later, still living in Columbus, Mississippi, on January 5, 1978, I gave birth to Ryan, who also was premature. He weighed two pounds and fourteen ounces. Ryan shortly after birth started having breathing problems, so he was evacuated to a neo-natal hospital in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was there for four weeks and at Columbus AFB Hospital for two weeks before he was released to come home. He had some of the same symptoms Eric had before he died, but God strengthened him through each one, and he has been healthy ever since.

After graduating from Poquoson High School in Virginia in 1996, Ryan went to Virginia Tech for a year, came home, and took classes at Thomas Nelson Community College. He was undecided as to what he wanted to do, and took a co-op position in the Newport News shipyard, alternating school with work every six months. He worked in the branch that designed the soundproofing for nuclear submarines. I asked him if he liked his job, and he said, "Yes, I really do. Where else in the world would you be able to work on a nuclear submarine and not have to go out to sea?" Ryan is single and presently serving in the Military Intelligence branch of the United States Army, stationed in Korea. His orders state that he will be back in Fort Campbell, Kentucky in November 2007. We can hardly wait. Only 48 more days and he will be home on leave for a month.

Our daughter, Tracie, was due on Ryan's second birthday, but she also came a little early, and was born December 7, 1980 at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan. She weighed five pounds 15 3/4 ounces — and was our little porker, comparatively! Tracie graduated from Poquoson High School in 1998 and went to Campbell University in North Carolina graduating in December 2002. While there she fell in love with a North Carolinian named Stephen Ford Renfrow. After her graduation she came home and worked as a substitute teacher in the Poquoson High School while her husband "to be" finished his degree, graduating in May 2003. They were married May 31, 2003. Stephen was accepted to medical school at Brody School of Medicine in Greenville, North Carolina and is in his fourth year.

The children and I were able to accompany Les to the various bases with the exception of his temporary duty assignments, which came up about every two months while he was at Beale AFB. My Mom once said, "I know of a couple in which the husband lives on the farm and the wife lives in town. Isn't that the most unusual arrangement?" and Les said, "I am gone two months at a time and I cannot even tell Debbie where I am going." But that was only two years out of the 25 years Les was in the service. We have lived in Mississippi, Texas, California, Michigan, Alabama, Ohio, Nebraska, England, and Virginia.

But we were more than tag-alongs. There were ways we could be helpful. When we lived in England a young Air Force member stationed at RAF Lakenheath had brought his family with him. to England They lived in a cottage in a small town near the base. She didn't know and had not met many people in England when her husband was sent on a temporary duty assignment. They had two children, a two-year old and a newborn. She had a heart trouble and while he was gone she died. No one checked on them and the babies starved to death. That troubled me so much! I couldn't feature this happening and vowed not to let it happen again if I could help it.

During Desert Storm, while the husbands were deployed in the desert, we had their families come over to eat with us, and I remember one Sunday when I was exhausted and said, "We're not having anybody over today." Our children pleaded with me, "Mama, we need to have those ladies come over! They need us!" Civilian families may not realize the strain for military wives. I told the wives that while their men were gone to the Gulf, when there were difficulties in their lives, when they were angry at the circumstances and felt like screaming, they could come and shout and scream at me, "I just don't want you to hit me." One young wife accepted my invitation. She came and shouted and screamed and cried, and I cried along with her. They needed the sounding board I could provide.

I taught gymnastics in Omaha, Nebraska for several years, and began working with special needs students. I also taught gymnastics in California. When we moved to Virginia I started to teach special needs students, and took some evening courses at Old Dominion University. I have continued trying to help students who have special needs and this is my 13th year. One of my primary goals is helping students learn to read because if they can't read, they can't read the Bible.

This is a challenging area of teaching. I see some results but there are times I come home discouraged that I haven't seen more progress. Seeing some evidence of growth makes up for the other times. God has given me gifts and talents to work with these children who have learning difficulties, and I accept the challenge. I don't do it on my own strength because sometimes I think, "Oh, my goodness, how am I going to do this?" and God shows me a way, or gives me something to encourage me. I want to be an encouragement not only to the students but to the staff. I want to.be able to build them up when they are having a tough day. I know we aren't to pray in school but there are times when people are upset and I just pray with them because God is bigger than man-made rules and numerous times people come up and say, "I know you are a praying woman. Will you pray about (this or that)?" I haven't learned all the answers but God's not finished with me yet.

There was an incredible answer to prayer that took place in California. I don't know why I'm surprised whenever God answers my prayers but I almost always am. The children were in fifth and third grades. Les was on one of his temporary duty assignments and gone for two months. On this occasion our van door wouldn't open. I asked different neighbor men to come and help me open the door. Finally I had asked everybody I knew and no one could get it open. I really needed to use the van and thought, "I've done everything I know to do but pray about it." So I put my hands on the door and prayed, "In the name of Jesus, could you please open the door?" and it opened. We were grounded for a week but Praise God! He opened the door!

At the time of this writing, Les' folks are doing well. On June 28, 2007, we celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. His brother continues to live six blocks away. We live comfortably in Osceola, Iowa, 20 miles from them. Les is retired but as is the case with most retirees, he is busier than ever. I will teach again this fall at Clarke Elementary School.

The sad note is that my mom had a stroke four years ago in August 2003. That was very hard, because she is in a nursing home and Daddy still lives on the farm. Our family is scattered. I don't go "home" to see Mom and Dad. I see one or the other. Other than my sister Dianna, we all live relatively close. She gets homesick, but she and her husband live in Oklahoma. It is "only" a seven hour drive.

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