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Major (Sergeant when with the 2nd ERS) Lawrence H. Bernstein (USAF Ret.) was born in New York city in the northern tip of Manhattan Island on June 22, 1926. He was one of three children born  to  Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bernstein. Mr. Bernstein himself a veteran of WW1. He graduated from Textile High School in 1943. His early dream in life was to be an Air Force fighter pilot. When he heard a P-38 whistle by, he said to  himself "That's for me."

Prior to graduating from HS he enlisted in the Aviation Cadet program and was accepted for flight training after completing high school, he was called to active duty on 10 November 1944. Major Bernstein entered preflight training in Biloxi, Mississippi. Six weeks into preflight we were told that there was a surplus of cadets in training and we had a choice of transferring to the Infantry or attend one of the Army training schools. He chose to be transferred to Scott Field, Illinois which was a radio operator gunnery school. It involved flying and that is what he wanted to do. He graduated from Scott Field as a Radio Operator Mechanic Airborne. He was then transferred  to Nellis Field in Nevada for gunnery training which was done in  B-24's. Upon completion of gunnery school he was transferred to Clark Field in the Philippines and assigned to the 24th photo Mapping Squadron, flying in B-24's.

In August of 1945 he was transferred to the 2nd ERS. He stayed at Clark Field for one month when he was assigned to the 2nd ERS in Palawan Island, He flew in the OA10A, the B17H and the C47. as a radio operator. One memorable mission in the B17H was to assist in rescuing the crew of a British Bomber that had ditched off the coast of French Indo China (Vietnam) When we arrived on the scene we dropped our boat and the crew scrambled to get into it. While we were orbiting scene the left inboard engine started smoking and the prop was feathered. We decided continue orbiting until we were sure the crew would be picked up. We made contact with a British ship that was nearby and gave them the aircrews position when they had them in sight we headed for Saigon. At this time no three engine was cutting out so we were in dire straits. We still had about 50 miles to Saigon, at this time the the Tower was notified of our Emergency and gave us clearance for a straight in approach. I thought we were going to land in the trees. Later we found out that we had coconut palm leaves on the tailwheel. It took 30 days to get the parts and the aircraft ready to return to Palawan. There were no quarters in Saigon so we were put up at the American Embassy, and later at the Continental Hotel which was French. Finally got back to Palawan and resumed the same routine of flying a mission every day. The reason for that is there was a P-51 Squadron located at our field and we were supporting their missions out over the South China Sea.

In September 1946 he had accumulated enough points (56) to be returned to the states. He was discharged in Nov 1946. He then went back to school. He remained in the Reserve in the meanwhile as a buck Sgt. At this time he worked in a radio Mfg plant that made A/C radios.

In 1947 he moved to Florida work with his father. He did that until 1948 when he received notification that he was being recalled back to active duty. He went through a refresher Basic Training Course at Lackland AFB. He was then moved to Maxwell AFB where he was trained as an Air Traffic controller. From there he went to Great Falls Mont. and then Elmendorf AFB in Alaska. He was assigned to the Flight Following section of ATC on the North Pacific Air route. He was promoted to S/SGT and assigned to Gen Smith head of the Alaskan Air Command. He was the Generals personal radio operator on his C-54. After about three months of flying with the General  his Squadron CO Captain William A Bomar called him in for a conference. He explained to him that the travelling Aviation Cadet Testing Unit was going to be in Elmendorf AFB the next week and he wanted him to go down an take the test. He said yes sir and the next week he was tested. He passed with high grades for pilot training. Three weeks later he was called to attend Primary Pilot Training in Malden Missouri. He trained in the T-6 and finished Primary no 2 in the class. He then went to Greenville Ms were he flew the T-28. Upon graduating as a 2nd Lt he was assigned as an instructor at Goodfellow AFB Texas He instructed there in the T-6, T28, B25 and the T33. In 1956 he was assigned to Williams AFB Az flying F-86's did that for six months when he was assigned to Nellis AFB flying the North American F-100 A Super Sabre the first a/c to fly supersonic in level flight. Upon  completion of the course at Nellis he was assigned to the 20 TFW, 79  TFS flying F-100-D models. We we supporting the Nato forces Nuclear threat against the Cold War. Was in the 79 TFS for 3years flying 1100 hours in  the F-100D and F models. The F model was the two-seater which he  instructed  in also. After the third year In England he bid the blokes farewell and was assigned to Williams AFB Az flying F1-00's. Upon arrival at Williams the mission had changed to a Pilot Training base. They moved in a bunch T-37's and T-33's. He was assigned to the T-33 section as a Flight  Commander. He was promoted to Captain when he was in Europe. He was the first selected pilot to attend the checkout in the new supersonic trainer, the T-38. He instructed in the T-38 until 1965 when he was assigned to go to Vietnam. He spent 15 months in country. the first 7 months as a Forward Air Controller (FAC) the next 8 months flying F100's he finally reached his goal of becoming a fighter pilot in combat. He flew over 300 missions as a FAC and F-100 Jock. After Vietnam he was assigned to Randolph AFB in the Elite Squadron that trained the instructors, as a Flight Comander.

The Squadron was moved to Tyndall AFB in 1968. He and his family of wife and 4 children 2 boys and 2 girls. A week after we had arrived he was notified that he was going TDY to Korea, the North Koreans had just captured the Pueblo (spy ship) He spent 7 months training the South Koreans how to best utilize Close Air Support with their F-5'S. Upon returning to Tyndall he was assigned as operations officer of the Pilot Instructor School which he performed until he was moved to Columbus AFB Ms. He was a Major at this time and was assigned as the Director of Operations for the 3650TH Pilot Training Wing. They were flying T-37'S and T-38'S. He set up the entire Basic portion of the Training Program for the T-38. He retired with 26 years service 10 years enlisted and 16 comissioned.

He flew 11,650 hours mostly  in single engine a/c. He had 380 hours of combat time. His decorations are The Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 oak leaf clusters, The Bronze Star, The air medal with 15 oak leaf clusters. Presidential Unit Citation,. and a whole bunch of other medals from WW2, Korea, and Vietnam.

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