We left McGuire on the 5th of April and we got back on the 24th. In all that time we had been as far east as Tehran. Actually we were there four times in that stretch of time, and we stayed there for four days, from the 9th to the 12th. During that time we were amazed by how modern the attire was. Women were not rapped in veils and burkas. It was the time of Mohammed Raza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. You can read about him Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi

The first Shah of the Persians, Cyrus the Great, had taken that title 2500 years before the current Shah took the title and Cyrus ruled over 50 million people.

Pahlavi came to power after Mossadegh had NATIONALIZED the oil industry and the United Kingdom and the United States overthrew his father’s rule and reintroduced privately owned oil companies and brought the Shah to power.

I remember going up to a pool, with a small waterfall, just outside of Tehran where the Shah used to go with his harem. When we were there, they were washing huge Iranian carpets in the water and they were using TIDE soap. I know I took some pictures of that. I have to look for that picture. These guys took the wet carpets, folded up on their shoulder, climbed a little up the cliff and unfolded the carpet to let it dry in the sun. After a little while, the hill was covered in carpets and the colors were wonderful to see. Especially through the cloud of a little hashish smoke.

We went back and forth to Karachi and we stoped in Incirlik. We also had a layover in Peshawar, Pakistan. Tom Stringer was my Navigator on this trip and he and I went to the Khyber Pass and walked around the gun shops and ammunition dealers.

Later, in April, we were ordered by radio to stop at Peshawa and pick up some American families that were being evacuated due to a the war between India and Pakistan that had just started. We landed and we taxied toward the tower. We left one engine running and I climbed the wooden steps on the outside of the tower, to an office just below the tower. There was a Pakistan sergeant at a blackboard with chalk in his hand. He was controlling the traffic. I had NO IDEA how to speak to him, so I said: “We come in big plane down from sky and want to file flight plan to leave.” in a John Wayne voice. He looked at me and said: “Excuse me sir, but can I help you?” in perfect English and then it occurred to me how long the British had been out there. The wooden tower was gone in this image.

Well, we picked up the families and flew them to Karachi. There was a US Colonel with a wife and two kids and a couple of other wives. The Colonel was worried about my getting in trouble for bringing civilians in, on my airplane. He said he would figure out how to get transportation after they got away from the plane. I told him not to worry about it and told Karachi that I needed a bus to transport our passengers.