Commander signs history

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Allison M. Boehm
  • 2d Bomb Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale Air Force Base, La --  Col. Steven Basham, 2d Bomb Wing commander, linked himself to history with the signing of a nine-foot long collection of currency May 21. 

The currency chain was started Aug. 3, 1943, in Bourquin Field, Puerto Rico. To break the monotony of day-to-day activity while fighting in World War II, Army Sgt. Gilbert E. Lawrence (deceased), a flight officer of a KC-135 Stratotanker, began collecting signatures on the first paper bill of the 'short snorter,' which is a pieced-together chain of foreign currency servicemembers assembled as they visited foreign countries. 
Signatures were then collected on the bills. 

"The United States dollar bill is the beginning of the chain because the United States is home, it's where we all want to get back to when were gone," said Joe Lawrence, son of Sergeant Lawrence. 

With each foreign country Sergeant Lawrence was stationed in during the war, he took a bill of the currency to add to his short snorter. Bills from India, Japan, Egypt, China and South America make up the 16-dollar-bill chain that was created decades ago. 

"There are stories behind each bill," said Mr. Lawrence, as he proudly displayed his father's creation. "There is a bill from China while my father was in Burma. He was part of the aircrew that flew Merrill's Marauders who made their way to the Myitkyina airstrip during one of his missions in 1944. The history here is remarkable." 

Along his military journey, Sergeant Lawrence collected more than 100 signatures on his short snorter. 

"I'm sure my father didn't know every person whose signature is on this short snorter, but they bared witness to each destination my father reached." 

Sergeant Lawrence's last destination and origin of the last bill on the short snorter was China. 

Since his father's passing in 1988, Mr. Lawrence carries the now historical short snorter with him as he travels to every location his father was stationed. He collects signatures on the currency chain to honor not only his father, but the servicemembers of WWII. 

Mr. Lawrence's expeditions have allowed him to receive signatures of more than 60 individuals-- mostly aviators and who in Mr. Lawrence's eyes, put the flag before themself. 

Among the signatures are a North Vietnamese pilot and a Navy servicemember who was at Pearl Harbor and witnessed the sinking of the USS Arizona. 

Mr. Lawrence's personal and local ties brought him to ask Colonel Basham to sign the snorter. 

Mr. Lawrence learned from a friend's daughter-in-law that her cousin was commander of an Air Force base. The woman's cousin is Colonel Basham. 

Although at the time Mr. Lawrence did not know who Colonel Basham was or where he was stationed, he quickly learned the base of topic was Barksdale, his place of birth. 

While at Barksdale, Mr. Lawrence was able to sit down with the 2d BW commander and discuss how their paths came to cross. 

The Kentucky natives chatted about life back home, their love of aviation and how that passion brought them to where they are today. 

"I wonder how I got to where I am every day," said Colonel Basham. 

"It's truly a dream," remarked Mr. Lawrence. "Someone like you, with close roots, a boy from Kentucky, to be wing commander of this historical base--that's really something."
As their discussion wrapped up, Colonel Basham was honored by the request of his signature for the short snorter. 

As he signed his name on a paper bill from Japan, the three generations of aviation servicemembers were forever linked together--just as the bills on the short snorter.