Glen Davis 
Age 76 
Born 1940 in Lewisville, MN 
Currently lives in Fairmont, MN

U.S Air Force Cold War Veteran

 Glen Davis is part of a long line of military tradition within his family. Between himself and his four other brothers, they amassed a total of 99 years of military service between them.

Davis remembered three significant events beginning in 1958 that took place during his time in the United States Air Force. “Vietnam War had started, the Berlin Wall went up in Europe and the Cold War began with the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he said.

Davis remembered he celebrated his 19^th birthday while flying to Germany to become part of the 497th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group (497 ISRG). The unit was based in Wiesbaden, Germany with the mission to support the tactical targeting program in Europe by furnishing photographic support such as overlays, aerial photography and photo interpretation.

Following his three-year deployment in Germany, Smith was stationed stateside at Turner AFB in Georgia as part of the 1370^th photo mapping wing of the USAF. It was the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Davis spent hours upon hours in the darkroom processing reels of film recorded during high altitude flyovers of Cuba by U-2 spy planes. “It was an interesting job, but it wasn't really what I wanted to do,” he admitted. “I didn't realize it at the time how critical our job was to the security of the Nation. It was very tense time.”

Story and Image © 2016 Joseph Kreiss Photography