As an "old"er AF veteran, I agree with Terry. The F-100's, F-104's, etc were just being phased out as I came in, but they were great aircraft. The F-4's were replacing the F-100's - the F-4s were absolutely HUGE aircraft.
As a kid during the height of the cold war, I remember seeing F-100's mounted on catapults in "ready" hangers that had the roof opened and pilot's sitting in them on alert ready to launch from the catapult with JATO bottles attached to the aircraft. I've tried to find photos, but have had no success.
The A-7's were ok, but not exciting. The most memorable experience with the A-7's was when we (I was maintenance, not flight operations) did NATO operations off the public highways near Ingolstadt, Germany. We would park them in earthen embankments off the side of the road and then shut down the highway when it was time to fly.
Times have changed.