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Prime Times A story of sacrifice By John Darling He wanted to remember a time of bravery in the skies over Europe and friends lost in combat or growing old now, so Chuck Dixon began writing a book of poems. Titled "Air Wars and Other Poems," Dixon�s privately printed book has been quietly circulating among vets and their families over the last two years. His voice is dimmed by Parkinson�s disease, but Dixon, 77, has read his verse to many gatherings and has a file full of letters from people moved by his words. Dixon is a member of War Birds, World War II pilots at Rogue Valley Manor who have dinner together and share stories. He writes of "Bill," who is a blend of himself and all the men he flew with. He formed a group of flying vets To tell stories about the past, Knowing that for the older ones Each year might be their last Bill always listened closely As each veteran told his story While keeping very careful notes To record their tales of glory. For Dixon, it�s not the glory of war that inspires him, but the sacrifice asked of � and given by � young men to stop tyranny. Each of the veterans took an oath, To honor our brave who fell And to pass down to our children The truth that war is hell. Dixon survived 38 missions as a P-38 pilot and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross when he and a wingman attacked a dozen German fighters and each shot one down. "I was young and eager," Dixon recalls. "I wanted to do my part to get the job done. A lot of people got killed unnecessarily. War is just no damn good. But it taught us to be prepared." Dixon came home from the war, got a business degree from the University of California at Los Angeles on the GI bill and went on to a career in county government � as assistant county administrator in Fresno County and then administrator in Stanislaus County, both in California. A friend sent Dixon�s resume to incoming California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1967, and soon Dixon was state deputy finance director and then director of general services, supervising 3,800 employees in areas as diverse as computers, the state police, communications and state contracts. He met regularly with the Reagan staff. Dixon�s boss was Caspar Weinberger, who went on to become President Reagan�s defense secretary and who wrote the foreword for Dixon�s book. In 1971, Dixon was named vice president for administration of the Federal National Mortgage Administration. He missed California, he said, and returned in 1973 as administrator of San Joaquin County. He retired in 1983 and moved to the manor in 1990. Through it all, Dixon kept flying, retiring from the National Guard as a brigadier general. He and his wife, Betty, raised three children and invested in an 1,800-acre ranch near Fort Jones, Calif., which they still manage, through the use of caretakers. Dixon made a pledge to tell only true stories in his book. In one poem, a plane comes apart in the sky during a training session. The instructor gets the cadet out safely, but by then, it�s too late to save himself. In another, a squadron waits in the English twilight for the return of a combat flight over Germany. The men almost give up hope, then glimpse "a miraculous flash of light" as the sun reflects off the incoming planes. His poem "Battlefields in the Sky" traces the grisly history of conquest, "exchanging power for tears" and "expanding its cruelty, supported by those insane." Dixon gazes out on his seventh-floor apartment as rains whip the bare orchards. "I wanted to tell people how it was. It may not be very good poetry, but ..." He struggles for the breath to form his words. "It�s accurate." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.