Service Details
Rank
Lieutenant Colonel
Branch
Air Force
Years of Service
1957-1979
Decorations
Not yet documented
Pledge Class
1953
Their Story
Don graduated from Fruitland High School in 1953. He went on to the University of Idaho and ROTC, and graduated in 1957 with a BA in Political Science.
Following commissioning, Don embarked on an Air Force career which included serving as navigator/bombardier in B-47's, radar navigator (bombardier) in B-52's, Minuteman Missile Crew Commander, Battle Planner on the Strategic Air Command's airborne command post (code named "Looking Glass"), and Commander of various radar installations. He flew several nuclear alert missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and 65 combat missions in Vietnam. He also earned a MA in History from Central Missouri State University, and graduated from the Air Force War College.
While stationed at Mountain Home in 1960, Don met and married Janet Cross of New Plymouth. Together they had a son (Eric, born 1961) and daughter (Janet Dawn, born 1964), and went on to make homes in North Dakota, Missouri, California, Nebraska, Idaho, Alabama and Maine. Janet and kids also "held down the fort" stateside during lengthy deployments to Vietnam, Thailand and Korea. Don retired from the Air Force in 1979. He passed away in 2015
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