Veteran Joel Bankes reflects on service

By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register

“It’s a day to remember and thank a veteran for the freedoms we have,” Joel Bankes said about the Veteran’s Day holiday. The retired Air Force master sergeant reflected fondly on his time in the military, service to the country and of the places it took him. 

A Central graduate in 1967, Bankes joined the military at 17, turning 18 while attending basic training at Lackland Air Force base in Texas. Service and life kept him from northeast Iowa until 2011, when, at the urging of his third wife, Karen, they moved back to the area. It was an unexpected decision, but Bankes is glad they did it because it reminds Karen of home back in upstate New York and it’s a safe place to live. 

In between the stops in Elkader, Bankes spent a lifetime traveling from base to base, in a career that was inspired by seeing a soldier while riding his bike as a kid. Bankes stopped to talk to the soldier and, as time went on, he thought about the future and what it would mean to stay in Elkader. It meant working for his father’s plumbing company, an unappealing option. In search of adventure, Bankes “ran away from home” as he put it, and into the waiting arms of the Air Force, which was chosen over the other branches because Bankes had no desire to “look at the ocean” and because of his lack of athletic ability. 

“Those guys never stop running,” he said of the Army.   

After graduating from technical school in Mississippi in 1968, Bankes received the highest security clearance and became a Morse code intercept operator, or in his own words, a “spy.” He was shipped to a base in Taiwan, which was “an experience.” 

“It was the Orient. We were kings over there,” he said. While in Taiwan, Bankes had access to classified information, including knowledge of the SR 71 and U2 spy planes, which was a career highlight. 

Next, Bankes was sent to Japan, where there was a lot of snow, slush and earthquakes. There was also a lot of drinking, and because of Air Force regulations, he lost his security clearance due to marrying someone who wasn’t an American. 

While there, Bankes became an administrative specialist and reenlisted. 

Bankes stated he volunteered for Vietnam, but for whatever reason, was never sent. 

Around 1973/1974, Bankes was sent back to Taiwan as a part of the administrative staff. It was here Bankes saw body bags filled with American soldiers being unloaded from aircraft. It was a sight that has stuck with him. 

Later, having been shipped to another base in Taiwan, Bankes, a staff sergeant at this time, worked at a base where they built aircrafts out of blown up American planes because, according to him, Congress wouldn’t buy new ones. The rebuilt aircrafts were then sold back to Vietnam to aid the war effort. 

It wasn’t until 1976 that Bankes finally returned stateside, to Randolph Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. It had been seven years since he left, and it was just time to come home. 

“My mother kept contacting the Red Cross, wondering where I was,” he joked. 

A few years later, Bankes chose to go to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he worked in political affairs, got his security clearance back, married for a second time and oversaw classified documents that contained maps of enemy territory used for reconnaissance missions. It was, Bankes admitted, a “cush job.” 

The next stop in his career, in San Angelo, Texas, was not. “It was the worst job I ever had,” he said. As a member of the Air Force communications service, he was responsible for all administrative duties, but the office was chronically understaffed, the hours were arduous and all of it impacted him personally. 

In June 1986, Bankes put in for First Sergeant, and upon receiving the promotion in rank, became responsible for 650 enlisted men and oversaw maintaining the health and well-being of the troops and their families. “I knew all of them by first name,” he said proudly. 

After leaving San Angelo in August of 1988, Bankes was sent to a base where nuclear bombs were present, and they practiced bombing runs for war with Russia. 

In January 1989, Bankes noticed problems with his hearing, which impacted his balance. Even after a medical procedure to fix the ailment, it eventually led to a humanitarian retirement on March 1, 1990. 

While Bankes never saw combat, the Air Force career, which was “very rewarding,” was not without its injuries—some unseen. He is a 70 percent disabled veteran and has had surgeries on numerous body parts, including four on his shoulder, two on his knees and two on his wrists. 

His service record also comes with medals: four commendation medals and two meritorious service medals, which include the National Defense Service Medal and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for supporting the country in the aftermath of a typhoon. 

“I did my job to the best of my ability,” Bankes said. 

In the years since retiring, Bankes has kept in contact with friends made during his years of service, and he occasionally attends reunions. 

As for Veterans Day, it is a time to “reflect on the wonderful things veterans maintain for the people,” he said. Additionally, Bankes stressed the importance of “praying for the safety of our armed forces,” and how joining the military opened doors to other cultures. 

“There is so much out there to see beyond the walls of Clayton County,” he said. 

When it comes to his time in the Air Force, Bankes noted, “If I could be 17 again, I would do it again.”