[SMCARA] Our man CDR Clarke W4OKW in the News! :)

[Richard Otis]

Twins born on plane in 1978 meet 'Stork' pilot


By Brad Dickerson
bdickerson at thesunnews.com
Posted: Saturday, Apr. 23, 2011

"When we were taxiing in, they said, 'Hold it, there's another one coming!'" says Cdr. Tom Clarke, left, as he recounts the story of the 1978 delivery of Justin and Jill Domogauer, center. The twins' mother, Brenda, stands at right. MATT SILFER


MYRTLE BEACH Tom Clarke was piloting the P-3C naval plane when the on-board doctor asked if he could step on it because things were starting to happen with one of the pregnant women.

The retired Navy commander pushed the power up and tried to get to Frankfurt, Germany, fairly quickly. Fifteen minutes later, the doctor re-emerged with an update.

"You don't have to worry; it's a girl," Clarke recalled the doctor saying.

Jill Domogauer was born June 8, 1978, on board that P-3C, an aircraft used in anti-submarine warfare that acted as a Medevac flight from Sigonella, Sicily, that particular night.

Clarke landed in Frankfurt shortly after Jill was born. As he was taxiing to the Air Force side of the airport, the pilot got another update.

"It's not over yet; it's twins," Clarke recalled.

Justin Domogauer was born 39 minutes after his sister, according to the twin's father, Robert.

Growing up, the Myrtle Beach siblings heard the story of their extraordinary birth countless times.

"I even did a report on it in school one time," Justin said.

Jill became curious about the men of that aircraft who assisted with her entry into this world. Eventually, she found Clarke and the two began emailing back and forth.

On April 16, after almost 33 years, the Myrtle Beach twins were reunited with the man who piloted what affectionately became known as "Clarke's Stork Taxi."

There were tears and there was laughter as the siblings, with their dad, Robert, and mom, Brenda, stood on the tarmac at Myrtle Beach Aviation and watched Clarke climb out of the Navy plane that brought him to the Grand Strand from Washington, D.C.

"Seeing the smile on the twin's faces, worth every bit of it," Clarke said.

'Little did we know'

Clarke was flying with Patrol Squadron 45 out of Jacksonville, Fla., when that "fairly routine day" in June 1978 became anything but.

The Sigonella base always had a plane on one-hour alert in case the medical clinic needed to fly patients to the hospital in Naples, Italy, according to Clarke.

He and his crew got the call that Brenda Domogauer had to be transported out after going into labor. Robert was stationed in Sigonella as an electronics technician and stayed behind with the couple's two other children, Jennifer and Jessica.

Just as the crew got Brenda strapped in, another woman was brought to the plane for transport to Naples after going into labor.

Once all patients were aboard, the plane headed for the hospital.

En route, Clarke got a message from Rome requesting that they land in Frankfurt instead. With only enough fuel for the Naples trek, he stopped there anyway for gas.

There the crew picked up a third pregnant woman, also bound for the Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Clarke said.

He requested a doctor come along for the rest of the flight, which turned out to be the right call.

Brenda said things "progressed very rapidly" during the flight. Once on the ground, the twins and their mother were taken to the base hospital.

After the race to Germany, Clarke and his crew expected an evening of R&R. Then the call came in ordering them back to Sicily.

"The crew was all excited about spending the night in Frankfurt," Clarke said. "We never did get our wiener schnitzel and beer."

Reunion

One month after Justin and Jill's birth, the crew got to take pictures with the infants in front of the plane.

Twenty-six years later, Jill - now an officer with the Horry County Police Department - tracked Clarke down via the Internet.

Still, she always hoped the day would come for a proper reunion.

Clarke made it happen. He called his old squadron in Jacksonville and arranged to be picked up when they had a training mission in the area.

Last Saturday turned out to be that day.

Mom and daughter stared out the window as the Navy plane landed at Myrtle Beach Aviation. They could hardly contain their excitement, or their tears.

Justin, a member of North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue, was running late and missed the plane's landing. He arrived in time to be shuttled out to the aircraft along with the rest of his family.

Awesome was how he described being able to meet Clarke face-to-face.

"Didn't really get to meet him before," Justin said.

Clarke and the crew gave the twins hats and commemorative squadron plaques. The entire family then posed for pictures.

Jill admitted that she was very nervous about meeting Clarke, minutes before she tearfully hugged him.

"It was a unique thing," she said. "I hope we both filled each other's expectations."

Seeing the plane pull up closer to the gate was especially emotional for Brenda. She saw the call numbers "319" painted on the nose and excitedly hugged her family.

Those call numbers were the same as the last three of the "stork taxi."

"The flight was really good," Brenda remembered. "If it was too bumpy, I didn't know about it."



Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/04/23/2243521/twins-born-on-plane-in-1978-meet.html#ixzz1KMcl4i7J