thedrifter
02-15-09, 08:00 AM
Lenderman speaks to Marine Corps League
02/14/09
By Kevin Myrick, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer
Today former United States Marine Corps Col. Jim Lenderman spoke to the Marine Corps League detachment about his service as a pilot for the President of the United States at the Rome-Floyd County Public Library.
Lenderman, call sign "Lucky," returned to Chattooga County to serve as vice principal in the summer of 2008, and coached the football team for the second half of the season.
His topic for today's meeting was his service in the Marines as a pilot in the failed Iran Hostage Rescue mission during the Carter administration.
Lenderman said during the Iran Hostage Rescue mission he flew as the lead pilot in the eighth helicopter and said he joined the mission by sheer luck.
"We trained for six months, and I was originally going to be the co-pilot for the commander of the mission," he said.
Though the mission itself was a failure, Lenderman continued to rise in the ranks throughout his career and eventually was a pilot for former president Ronald Reagan during the 1980s as part of the squadron that flies Marine One.
He said one time, Reagan was being flown to Andrew's Air Force Base, and Marine One had a minor malfunction. When they flew back to Anacostia Naval Air Station where Marine One is based, Reagan kicked the tires of the backup helicopter and was quoted by Lenderman as saying "I'll take this one."
"He was a nice person who got what he needed from you by treating you well," he said. "He was just a nice guy."
Lenderman was involved with the program until he retired in 2001, but before leaving was responsible for ushering in a replacement for the Marine One fleet of H-3 helicopters to a better HIS-2 model.
Once retired, Lenderman was a Navy ROTC commander at a high school in Charlotte, N.C. before returning to his boyhood home in Summerville to be vice principal at Chattooga High School, where he graduated in 1970.
"The civilian world is hard to adapt to when you've been in the Marines for 27 years," he said. "But what you really miss is the camaraderie."
Ellie
02/14/09
By Kevin Myrick, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer
Today former United States Marine Corps Col. Jim Lenderman spoke to the Marine Corps League detachment about his service as a pilot for the President of the United States at the Rome-Floyd County Public Library.
Lenderman, call sign "Lucky," returned to Chattooga County to serve as vice principal in the summer of 2008, and coached the football team for the second half of the season.
His topic for today's meeting was his service in the Marines as a pilot in the failed Iran Hostage Rescue mission during the Carter administration.
Lenderman said during the Iran Hostage Rescue mission he flew as the lead pilot in the eighth helicopter and said he joined the mission by sheer luck.
"We trained for six months, and I was originally going to be the co-pilot for the commander of the mission," he said.
Though the mission itself was a failure, Lenderman continued to rise in the ranks throughout his career and eventually was a pilot for former president Ronald Reagan during the 1980s as part of the squadron that flies Marine One.
He said one time, Reagan was being flown to Andrew's Air Force Base, and Marine One had a minor malfunction. When they flew back to Anacostia Naval Air Station where Marine One is based, Reagan kicked the tires of the backup helicopter and was quoted by Lenderman as saying "I'll take this one."
"He was a nice person who got what he needed from you by treating you well," he said. "He was just a nice guy."
Lenderman was involved with the program until he retired in 2001, but before leaving was responsible for ushering in a replacement for the Marine One fleet of H-3 helicopters to a better HIS-2 model.
Once retired, Lenderman was a Navy ROTC commander at a high school in Charlotte, N.C. before returning to his boyhood home in Summerville to be vice principal at Chattooga High School, where he graduated in 1970.
"The civilian world is hard to adapt to when you've been in the Marines for 27 years," he said. "But what you really miss is the camaraderie."
Ellie