*This is the second in a series of articles honoring veterans in Simpson County.
Leo Windham is a retired United States Air Force Master Sergeant, having served in that branch of the military for a total of 27 years. He first joined the local Army National Guard in 1955 at 15 years of age before enlisting in the Air Force.
Windham graduated from Mendenhall High School and then went to Copiah-Lincoln Junior College. “When I got through at Co-Lin I worked one summer with seismograph and couldn’t find another job. I went and signed up, passed the test for the Air Force. Then I told them the truth, that I was in the National Guard. They said, ‘You’ve got to get a release.’ It took about three months to get a release. I had a key to just about everything in that guard armory so it took a long time. That was in 1961.”
Windham attended boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. “I was in a mobility outfit in Alexandria, La., at England Air Force Base. I was an aircraft radio repairman at that time. I spent four years at England Air Force Base and out of four years I was maybe on that base a year. I went to Adana, Turkey, in 1962 right after Gary Powers got shot down.” Powers was a civilian pilot with the CIA whose U-2 plane was shot down over Russia.
Sgt. Windham’s first tour of Vietnam began August 5, 1964. “I saw shot up airplanes and dead bodies, all I’ve ever seen because I was Air Force,” he said. In 1966 he returned to San Antonio with the 124’s and was stationed at Kelly AFB. “I stayed one whole year to the day because I shipped back out – I was coming from Vietnam and I went right back.”
Windham served at Tan Son Nhut Saigon, a major U.S. military installation used for flights and housing the headquarters of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, where he worked on aircraft radios. It is no longer a viable base.
According to Windham, “When we got there it was remote, nothing. We had to build our camps. We had nothing. When we got back to Tan Son Nhut it was a little more. Put us in a consolidated maintenance crew with people from everywhere.”
Windham continued, “I knew everybody that was in Louisiana served more than one tour of Vietnam. My last one was a long one. I went in July of ‘68 and came home in October of ‘70. I came back in ‘70 because they were phasing down. They decided I was crazy so I had to go home— I’d been there so long.” While in Vietnam Windham experienced alerts but was never bombed
Windham also served tours in Turkey in 1962, 1963 and 1964.
In addition he was stationed in Homestead, Fla., during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
“That was the closest base,” he said. “We were ready to assist the Navy with guided missiles off our air carriers. We had guided missiles in our career field that we put on the airplanes.”
After his last tour of Vietnam, Windham went to Keesler AFB, where he received training in basic radio, nine level schools and also airborne command post school. From there he went to Kansas in the 70’s but returned to Little Rock when the Kansas base was closed.
Windham had been scheduled to go to Thailand but the Air Force closed that base so he was sent to Omaha, Neb., instead. “I worked in an ice cream freezer for Schwann’s Frozen Foods for 14 years here. It was warmer in that freezer than it was up there.” He returned yet again to Little Rock, where he found himself in Titan Missile electronics before retiring in 1981.
He says he enjoyed his years in the service but looking back, might have done some things differently.
Windham came home to Simpson County, where he held a variety of jobs before landing a full-time position with Schwann’s Frozen Foods. “I ended up working for Schwann’s accidentally.” He was initially hired as a part time loader. After two weeks he was hired as a full time loader. Windham retired from Schwann’s in 1999.
In 2000 he took the Veterans Service job with Simpson County. Windham gave notice to retire in 2020 but says Covid prevented an immediate departure. Holly Williams was eventually hired to take that job, but he still helps out as needed.
Windham belongs to several veterans’ organizations and currently holds the post of Present Quarter Master at the VFW in Simpson County. He has been in place there for 25 years. “They say you do it till you die; nobody wants it.” He is a Gold Legacy Life VFW member, a DAV life member (100% disabled), American Legion member and past department commander of the DAV.
At 85, Leo Windham is still serving and plans to do so until he no longer can.
