Two for One
By Andy Lemon
Airman 2nd/C Douglas Finkenbiener was a practical sort. He had auditioned and was accepted in the US Air Force as a saxophone player. Having been assigned to the 522nd USAF Field Band and stationed at Ramey AFB on the Northwest corner of the island of Puerto Rico was a plus and he was hell bent on using it to his personal advantage.
Between playing third alto in the jazz band and daily Retreat formations, he managed to enroll in Spanish classes being offered on base by the Florida State University Extension program.

In the 1950’s, even though the US was definitely fighting a war of what turned out to be attrition in Korea, Walter Winchell, the New York Columnist, had on air called Ramey AFB the Country Club of the Air Force. It was rumored that when flight crews went down to the flight…