Sondra Garner - Line of Communications

Copyright 2012-2018, Sondra Garner, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151 U.S.A. All rights reserved.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the paperback edition as follows:

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913168

Summary: In 1963, Sondra Garner, her three small children in tow, goes to join her husband, an Air Force Officer stationed at Incirlik, Turkey. While there her son is kidnapped and separately her husband is taken hostage by the Turkish Government to force the United States to support Turkeys invasion of Cyprus.

EBK-ISBN 978-0-578-44970-8 Ebook

Published in the United States by MFM Publishing, Los Angeles, CA U.S.A.

Editing, Book Design, Cover Design, and Cover Photography by Manuel Freedman

Interior photography courtesy and used by permission of the Author.

Manufactured in the United States of America

To Author Lori Howell-Thompson for your love, generosity and guidance through this journey of writing.

Jesse Garner for your endurance of my time spent to write this book and your support.

Sandy Stultz and her Jet Jockey husband, Dick Stultz for their encouragement and moral support. For Dick and his artistry in bringing life and memories back, to old photos.

All of you who insisted this story had to be told, especially Paul Petersen, I appreciate, your nudging me to do so.

As a child and teenager, Sondra and her mother traveled whenever possible to foreign countries, thus evoking Sondras curiosity about other lands. Her Mothers Travel Bible was the book, Europe on Five Dollars a Day.

Sondra Graduated High school, started college, was married to a Military Officer and had children at an early age.

Eight years after their marriage her husband was deployed to Turkey. There began the nightmare of his being taken hostage by the Turkish government and Sondras determination to save his life.

After returning from her ordeal in Turkey, Sondra remained dedicated to helping the military family while serving as a local and International elected officer for both Officer and Enlisted organizations. As Vice President and Legislation Committee Chair for AFSA Auxiliary, she fought vigorously to protect the medical benefits for her fellow military families, winning the AFSA Presidential award.

After her children were grown, Sondra called upon her early experiencehaving grown up in a family run businessand her Degree in International marketing to develop a large International Customer Satisfaction analysis company.

Her love of nature, mountains, water and beautiful blue skies, drove her to relocate to Lake Tahoe. To this day, she is fervently proud to be part of the military family, Proud to be an American!

This Book ~ is based on the true story of an Air Force Officer who was assigned to a tour of duty in Turkey in 1963. Moreover, it is the story of his young wife and their small children who joined him.

It tells of her heart-wrenching fight to save him from certain death at the hands of the Turkish Government. The desperation she felt and the unfaltering courage she showed while ensnared in a tug of war between two countriestwo different worldsis unimaginable! You will feel the fear of two parents when their son was kidnapped!

Turkey was at war politically with Cyprus at the time of her husbands deployment. The Turkish Government was resolute in their commitment to force the United States to support the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

As a means to gain leverage against the United States, the Turkish Government arrested three American military men on trumped-up charges and held them as political prisoners. The Turkish Government, determined to prove they were in control, would escalate the charges according to the amount of pressure the Turkish authorities wished to assert against the United States.

Back home in the United States, there was no mention in the news media about the military men held in prison. It is clear the United States Government was committed to keeping the matter quiet at all costs.

This is a poignant story of ardent love, humor, intrigue and unmitigated fear!

Chase

My husband, Chase, was a dedicated Air Force officer, a caring husband, and a devoted father. He was several years older than I and had been in the Air Force for six years before we met. Prior to being assigned to Turkey, Chase had served in Viet Nam, Korea, and Japan. He was honored to serve as one of NASAs Medical Rescue Team for the space program from its inception.

Chases father was an engineer for a national development company and subsequently traveled a lot. He was out of town on a business trip when his wife went into labor. Tragically, as she was driving herself to the hospital, a drunk driver broadsided her car.

As faith would have it, a hospital intern was on his way home from work after finishing a twelve-hour shift in the emergency room. When he came upon the accident, he jumped out of his car and immediately pulled her flaccid body from her car. She struggled to speak to him as she took her last breath and died in his arms.

The intern, realizing he had no time to spare and only moments to deliver her baby, placed the woman in the back of his station wagon. Fortunately, he had his shaving kit with him! With a sense of extreme urgency, he removed a clean razor blade and delivered her baby boy by cesarean section. He carefully wrapped the baby in his coat and then rushed back to the emergency room where he had just gotten off duty.

Consequently, Chases father, who lived in upstate New York, now had a newborn baby boy to care for. Because he traveled often, he hired a couple to look after his newborn son as well as tend to his house.

It was sad that Chases father seemed in some way to blame his son for his mothers death. According to the housekeeper, The father was gone as much as possible. As a result, she and her husband essentially raised the little boy.

Chase was an outgoing boy. He was such a good student that he completed high school two years ahead of schedule. He could not wait to go on to college and then begin a military career. He was extremely proud of being able to serve his country as a member of the Air Force.

Neither Chase nor I could be present at a military function with the troops marching and ol glory flying without having tears come to our eyes and lumps in our throat.

You know that lumpthe lump that comes from pride. Pride in the people who serve their country; pride and gratitude for those who have given so much; pride to be part of the military family! We were both so proud to be Americans!

Sondra

Sondra, age twenty-four, when this Turkish adventure began. Luckily, I already had exposure to the world beyond our U.S. borders. I had been across the pond, as they would say, and had become a seasoned Air Force wife in the eight years that Chase and I had been married.