Sun City Resident David Applegate is putting the pieces of the puzzle together to figure out what his father, Harold M. Applegate, did for a living.
Applegate is aware of some of the story.
“My father retired in August 1975 at the rank of E—9, Chief Master Sergeant serving in the Strategic Air Command (SAC), working at The Vault,” he said.
David Applegate is pictured here with a caricature drawing, depicting his dad’s work as a Cold War spy. (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
The Chief Master Sergeant is a unique, non-commissioned rank in the United States Air Force. It is the ninth and highest enlisted rank in the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force, just above senior master sergeant. A Chief Master Sergeant is sometimes referred to as a chief.
“He was called ‘Chief’ or ‘Red.’ I was never invited to visit my father at work. He worked at Offutt Air Force Base in Building 500. This was the new headquarters complex built expressly for SAC.”
The facility was referred to as the Western Pentagon. It was a four-story, reinforced concrete and masonry office building that included an adjacent three-story below-ground command post.
“My father enlisted in 1942 in the army at the age of 14,” Applegate said. “He lied about his age and he made it all the way through basic training. He was booted out and sent to reform school, where he played football, and upon high school graduation was drafted in 1945 and sent to Germany for four years. He was a rifleman and played on the Army football team. He traveled throughout Europe playing football. Now I realize he was working intelligence under that cover. He was a spy. He was involved in Operation Paperclip.”
Operation Paperclip was a secret initiative launched by the U.S. government to recruit German engineers, doctors, physicists, chemists, and other scientific experts for U.S. technological advancement, especially in anticipation of the Cold War.
Applegate said, “He was captured by the French and was imprisoned. He was accused of working for the Germans. He spoke German. He was tortured. The soles of his feet bore those scars. The British learned of his abduction and got him released.”
He continued, “In 1950, he was transferred to Fort Knox in Kentucky and was involved in interrogation. He met my mother there in Louisville at the USO dance. He asked her to marry him on the first date. She turned him down because he was not Catholic, but he didn’t give up. They were married for 42 years and had seven children.”
A funny diploma depicting Apple-
gate’s work as a spy that was present-
ed to him at his retirement in 1975. (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
Harold’s career progressed. He went to England, followed by his wife, and had two children. His next assignment was with the 508th Strategic Fighter Wing at Turner AFB, Georgia in 1953 where he became friends with a pilot you might have heard of: Gary Powers. Harold was not a pilot; he did not have the required twenty-twenty vision. He played a role in the Cold War confrontation as a photography analyst during the crisis.
Applegate said, “He was involved in gathering intelligence by his work in analyzing film during the Bays of Pigs. Under the cover of darkness, U-2 Black Film Canisters were dropped and were analyzed by people like my father. We had some of those large canisters that we used to store things. I still have some.”
Chief Master Sergeant Applegate retired on August 15, 1975. He was presented with a Caricature of himself depicting his work and his extraordinary skills and a diploma for his Master’s Degree from the School in Intelligence, graduating ‘Magnum Cum Sac.’
Applegate said, “He passed away on March 13, 1993. He was buried in Arlington Cemetery with a 21-gun salute. My mother is also buried there. We were walking away when I felt my mother’s presence. I turned around and at that moment we saw a B-52 fly over the grave. We would have missed that.”
Applegate continues to find pieces of his dad’s life. He found information in the September 1962 issue of Mechanix Illustrated and an issue of Popular Science.
“We realize what all the traveling he did was probably for his work in intelligence. Looking at the collage by his buddies and references to James Bond, we realized it’s our dad. He was a spy.”
