03-12-2018, 08:18 AM
Please allow me to bring sad news of the passing of a Big Blue member and my friend.
Bob Hollowell aka Iron Goat passed away March 1. Bob was one of the very first guys I started regularly conversing with on this forum. He was instrumental in helping me get back into this hobby with my boys when they were younger. Always offering advice and lending his help, Bob was a HO modeler but found time to send on news or support for whatever I was doing on my NScale layout. He worked on his HO layout as long as his back would allow, until finally making the change to HOn3 due to mobility limitations. Yet he still found the time to build Nscale buildings for my layout as well as sending me all sorts of layout planning books, information, videos, and tools.
But what most people here didn't know was Bob's "back story" which I don't think he ever shared. He was too modest a guy. Bob Hollowell was one of the very first who volunteered and was selected for the Air Commandos. A very secret component of the USAF, his group did some amazing things - shaping the world as we know it today. The work those guys did changed the strategic and geo-political landscape, that furthered our nation's objectives all around the world. He served multiple tours in Viet Nam in a Air Commando unit that had over a 80% accident/incident rate. Many of their missions remain classified even today. But that unit grew in scope and became the USAF Special Operations Command. He served the USAF faithfully, then went back to military service in the Marines for a few more years until retirement. His life was full of exciting stories, most he couldn't discuss except to close military friends who had the proper security clearance. One of the highlights of his Air Force career was coordinating the airdrops at Pope AFB for John Wayne during filming of "The Green Berets". There's a picture I saw of Bob shaking hands with the "Duke" after a days film shooting. When Wayne appeared in the NCO Club bellowing "where can a guy get a drink around here?", John singled out Bob and elbowed his way to the bar next to him so they could share a few glasses and swap stories.
To me, Bob was my friend of almost 15 years. We regularly emailed, called when we could, and visited once in a while. When my squadron friends died in a C-130 crash, he was the guy I needed to call to help me deal with the loss. I knew Bob would understand, because years prior, he too had lost his crew to the side of a mountain in Nam and carried the pain and regret that he wasn't with them, always. His wisdom and advice, compassion and caring, made Bob more like a father to me than just a friend in the hobby. I will miss him very much.
So allow me to ask that a kind prayer be said for a fellow modeler and member of Big Blue... an man who had an interesting and productive life, a father, decorated veteran, a friend.
Thank you
Bob Hollowell aka Iron Goat passed away March 1. Bob was one of the very first guys I started regularly conversing with on this forum. He was instrumental in helping me get back into this hobby with my boys when they were younger. Always offering advice and lending his help, Bob was a HO modeler but found time to send on news or support for whatever I was doing on my NScale layout. He worked on his HO layout as long as his back would allow, until finally making the change to HOn3 due to mobility limitations. Yet he still found the time to build Nscale buildings for my layout as well as sending me all sorts of layout planning books, information, videos, and tools.
But what most people here didn't know was Bob's "back story" which I don't think he ever shared. He was too modest a guy. Bob Hollowell was one of the very first who volunteered and was selected for the Air Commandos. A very secret component of the USAF, his group did some amazing things - shaping the world as we know it today. The work those guys did changed the strategic and geo-political landscape, that furthered our nation's objectives all around the world. He served multiple tours in Viet Nam in a Air Commando unit that had over a 80% accident/incident rate. Many of their missions remain classified even today. But that unit grew in scope and became the USAF Special Operations Command. He served the USAF faithfully, then went back to military service in the Marines for a few more years until retirement. His life was full of exciting stories, most he couldn't discuss except to close military friends who had the proper security clearance. One of the highlights of his Air Force career was coordinating the airdrops at Pope AFB for John Wayne during filming of "The Green Berets". There's a picture I saw of Bob shaking hands with the "Duke" after a days film shooting. When Wayne appeared in the NCO Club bellowing "where can a guy get a drink around here?", John singled out Bob and elbowed his way to the bar next to him so they could share a few glasses and swap stories.
To me, Bob was my friend of almost 15 years. We regularly emailed, called when we could, and visited once in a while. When my squadron friends died in a C-130 crash, he was the guy I needed to call to help me deal with the loss. I knew Bob would understand, because years prior, he too had lost his crew to the side of a mountain in Nam and carried the pain and regret that he wasn't with them, always. His wisdom and advice, compassion and caring, made Bob more like a father to me than just a friend in the hobby. I will miss him very much.
So allow me to ask that a kind prayer be said for a fellow modeler and member of Big Blue... an man who had an interesting and productive life, a father, decorated veteran, a friend.
Thank you
Mark
Citation Latitude Captain
--and--
Lt Colonel, USAF (Retired)
Citation Latitude Captain
--and--
Lt Colonel, USAF (Retired)