William "Bill" Suzich was hanging out with his friends in Roscoe when he decided on a whim to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1950.
The Korean War was being fought at the time and Suzich and his close friends, Jackie Bailey and Warren Schmidt, couldn't find a job in the Mon Valley.

"So the three of us enlisted and figured we'd put our four years in," Suzich said. "Plus they promised us we'd be able to stay together."

Their lives would forever be changed, though, as they only spent one day together after they enlisted.

And Suzich turned his "whim" into a career, spending more than 20 years as a military pilot.

Suzich, a retired major with the Air Force, now lives in McAllen, Texas, with his wife Shirley.

He was born in Charleroi, but grew up mostly in the Roscoe area.

He graduated from Charleroi High School in 1948 and remembers waking up before dawn to milk the cows at his family's farm before he went to school.

His parents, Mike and Molly Suzich, emigrated to America from Yugoslavia. Before his mother died at age 93, she was able to return to her homeland to visit family members she hadn't seen in years.

Suzich grew up in a large, hard-working family, which likely prepared him for his life in the military.

He spent a short time in the military police before entering the Air Cadet program to become a pilot.

He served as a command pilot with the 22nd Air Force, a major component of the Military Airlift Command, providing global airlift for U.S. military forces.

It was during an exercise at the George Air Force Base in the state of California that Suzich had a harrowing experience he has never forgotten.

While in the pilot's seat, another plane following him tried to fly under his plane, but the pilot got too close. The other plane crashed, leaving no survivors behind.

"One of my engines went out, but I was able to pancake it in safely on a foam runway," he said.

Suzich also spent time in Alaska, and memories of another exercise that went awry came flooding back in a bowling alley near his Texas home years later.

Suzich was bowling with friends when he overheard a man telling the story of how he was a member of a ground crew in Alaska that was shooting targets on planes.

The man explained how he shot off the target, but also hit the plane several times. Suzich was the pilot of that plane.

"When I heard him telling that story, I couldn't believe after 50 years I was standing with someone at a bowling alley who had been there," Suzich said.

His final years as a pilot were spent flying equipment and service personnel to Vietnam.

He also had the task of returning wounded and dead soldiers back to the states.

Even though many years have gone by, Suzich still gets overcome with emotion when he thinks about bringing those soldiers home.

"I will never forget that," he said. "I can also tell you that the nurses on those planes who took care of those soldiers didn't get the recognition they deserved."

After 20 years in the Air Force, Suzich retired and was honored with the Air Medal for his outstanding airmanship and courage on successful missions under hazardous conditions.

Suzich and his wife, the former Shirley Yeager, a Pittsburgh native, moved to the sleepy town of McAllen in 1971.

Located near the Mexican border, McAllen only had a population of about 35,000 when they moved there and it has since grown to more than 100,000.

They have three children and four grandchildren.

His sisters are Ann Lewis, of Elco; Dorothy Gillen, of Roscoe, and Martha Medich, of Bittle.

He also has four brothers - Harry, of Coraopolis; Sam, of Maryland; Nick, of San Diego, Calif., and Mike, of Colorado, who also served in the U.S. Army.

Two other sisters, Sarah and Kate, are deceased and two other brothers died during the flu epidemic of the early 1900s.

Suzich says he loves living in warm McAllen, where the temperature this week was in the mid-70s.

When he first moved to McAllen he bought a ruby red grapefruit orchard.

These days he is content with a few fruit trees in his yard and a vegetable garden.

"I like to tell my family in the Mon Valley when I talk to them that I have fresh garden tomatoes on my windowsill," he said with a laugh.

Suzich also enjoys fishing and golf.

"We're happy here and just enjoying a peaceful life."

Stacy Wolford can be reached at swolford@tribweb.com or (724) 684-2640.