Master Sergeant Alvie Franklin and wife Minnie at the WSMR Museum in May of 2000. They were visiting their son, LTC Dan Franklin, who was WSMR Base Chaplain then.
Sergeant Franklin was NCOIC of the Commo Section at Red Canyon Range Camp. He was responsible for all communications throughout the camp including downrange missile sites. It was a daunting task, considering many of the telephones were EE-8 Field Phones with wires laid across the desert floor. All telephone lines into and out of RCRC went through the tiny but very busy switchboard atop Commo Hill. There were also various radio communications under his supervision.
Sgt. Franklin came to the camp following an assignment in Korea. He left RCRC in 1959 for an assignment in Europe. Later he served three and a half years in Ethiopia, Africa. Following retirement from the Army in 1968, Al worked for Powell Electrical in Houston, TX as Quality Control for 26 years.
The Franklins have three sons:
Lt. Colonel Dan Franklin, Deputy Chaplain of the 5th Army, Ft. Sam Houston, TX.
Captain Don Franklin, US Army, Ft. Polk, LA.
Kevin Franklin, Patrolman, Texas Highway Patrol.