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Duane Falske
Retired Captain Duane Edmond Falske, 88, of Mountain Home, passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, at a local care center in Boise.
A viewing will be held on Sunday, Sept. 19, from 2:30-4:30 p.m. at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel. Funeral services will be held on Monday, Sept. 20, at Faith Lutheran Church, 1190 N. 6th East St. Burial with full military honors by the Mountain Home Air Force Base Honor Guard will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel.
Duane was born on Sept. 15, 1921, in Dent, Minn., the son of Friedrich and Ida Falske. At the age of 16 he moved to Chicago and worked as a glass cutter from 1937-1940. He continued working as a glass cutter and beveller in Los Angeles from 1940-1941 and then worked as a concrete worker, in Long Beach, Calif., from 1941-1942.
In September of 1943, Duane enlisted in to the U.S. Army Air Corps. He did his basic training at Buckley Field, Colo., from October 1943 to November 1943, followed by aircrew/bombardier training from November 1943 to March 1945. In September 1944 he had aerial gunnery training for B-17s.
Duane met his wife, Joan (Johnson), on New Year's Day, 1944, while attending Montana State College in Bozeman. They were married the following year, on Sept. 8, 1945.
In March of 1945 he earned his navigator/bombardier wings. After several advanced courses in Florida and New Mexico, he also earned his advanced bombardier and radar observer ratings.
Duane worked for Strategic Air Command at Mather AFB in California in 1956.
That is when Duane and Joan had their son, Lynn, join their lives in Sacramento.
April 17, 1956, the family was stationed at Mountain Home AFB with the 9th Bomb Wing. In 1960, Duane was with the 9th Armament and Engineering Squadron. Duane was a navigator/bombardier on the B-47s and cross-trained as a missile launch officer in 1961. It was at that time Duane and Joan's daughter, Carla, joined the family.
Duane was assigned as officer-in-charge (OIC) of electrical and electronics with 569th Strategic Missile Squadron. He continued his training with a missile operations/maintenance officer's course at Sheppard AFB, Texas, from October 1961 to February 1962, and then a Titan I replacement course from May of 1963 to June of 1963.
Duane worked as a building contractor with Civil Engineering for two unaccompanied tours of duty in Tainan, Taiwan, from 1968-1970.
Through Duane's Air Force career, he had flight hours in 21 different aircraft, including the B-17, B-24, TB-25, B-29, C-97, C-123 and C-124. He had numerous unaccompanied assignments to Asia during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Duane retired from the U.S. Air Force in January of 1972. After retirement from the Air Force he worked numerous jobs, including base housing inspector and painting "over-hire" and fertilizing fields for Simplot. He also returned to Taiwan for another two years working as a contractor.
Duane and his wife, Joan, were charter members of the Faith Lutheran Church.
After Joan retired in 1986, they spent most of Chinese New Year's in Taiwan with their many friends who live there. They accompanied their friends in 1991 and 1992 on trips to the Great Wall of China, Beijing, and numerous other points of interest in China, Japan, England, France and Hawaii.
Duane was a lifetime member of the DAV, VFW, American Legion, Reserve Officer's Association and the Costa Mesa Historical Society (Santa Ana Air Base Wing).
Duane and Joan celebrated their 65th wedding Anniversary shortly before his death.
Duane is survived by his wife, Joan, of Mountain Home, his daughter Carla and her husband, Stefan, of Beaverton, Ore., his daughter Harriet Summers of Oklahoma, two grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, three great-great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews scattered throughout the United States.
He was the last survivor of 12 older siblings. He was preceded in death by his son, Lynn.
The family would like to thank Duane's many wonderful friends for their visits, phone calls and prayers. We also want to thank Boise Village Good Samaritan Society and Legacy Home Hospice for the compassionate care they gave to Duane.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made in Duane's name to a charity of choice.