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Welcome to Aviation Cadet Class 61-09
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Joe MillerI am the former wife of Joe Miller.
Joe died in November of 02. As Joe had no family,
I am the executer of his estate and even though
we were divorced, we remained best of friends.
Joe died very suddenly and I am left with a lot
of lose ends. The Air Force, and if any of you
really knew him, being a former Marine, the
military, was Joe's life. He swept me off my feet
when I was 19 and he was 29 and a Capt. in 52's
at Fairchild. He drove up in a new Corvette and
between that and the flightsuit I never had a
chance. He suprised himself by marrying me since
he knew he wasn't the marrying kind, but we had 7
of the most exciting years of my life together.
If any of you are familiar with Spokane and the
Fairchild area, my college dorm was an 11 story
tower in Cheney fairly close to the runway. To
impress me when we first met, his 52 crew, just
recently returned from Utapao, Thailand, and
fairly cocky, buzzed the dorm at 100 feet in the
52. There was actually something in the news
about it. It was quite a thrill for me. When we
married, I went to CCK in Taiwan with Joe. It was
an unaccompanied tour, but he was a Major then so
could afford to take me. It was a wonderful, but
sad experience that I will never forget, being so
close to the war and what happened there. Joe was
flying C130's for a while, but went back in 72 or
73 on 52's again. Joe was very disabled his last
years, but sharp as a tack, I've never known
anyone as intelligent. He spent hours on the
computer, flying simulaters. He was always very
proud of his military bearing and because he
could no longer stand straight and walk like a
Marine, he became a recluse. He had a nice place
on the water in Treasue Island, Florida. I hadn't
seen Joe in 30 years when he died, even though we
talked several times a week, and he had only his
lawyer for me to deal with when I went down to
settle his estate. I would very much like to hear
from anyone who knew Joe. He had a daughter with
his first wife who he allowed to be adopted as a
baby by her stepfather, as he thought that would
be best for her. He regretted it all his life,
but was unable to locate her because the new
father worked for the secret service and could
stop any inquiry. I have family pictures, all of
his military medals and commendations and
personal things that I feel she should at least
have a chance to have. I've hit dead ends at any
attempt to locate her, as I don't have the name
of the new father. She would be in her 30's now.
Joe married his first wife in June of 61, her
name was Karen Ann Kyle. If any of you knew Joe
then, or could give me any hints or ideas on how
to locate her, I would be forever gratefull.
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Ed Cook was killed in a C-46 crash. It was out of Hulbert field and he was in training to be in B-26's down in Panama. He was stationed at McChord flying Old Shakey and he volunteered to go to this assignment at Hulbert with 1st Commando group.
Amado Leonel Cota-Robles passed away March 09, 1985. He flew as navigator in B-52s and as a pilot in the FB-111. His son, also Amado Cota-Robles, lives in Bradford, PA and enjoys hearing about his Dad's military experiences. The son's email address is amadocr@charter.net. There is a family website: http://cota-robles.com/ where you can see a biographical sketch on Amado.
Bo Shamblin. He was flying out of Travis. No other information is available.
John L. Heywood (deceased while still in the Air Force)
Thomas H. Jones, Jr. (deceased after leaving the Air Force)
Joseph G. Smith died at Spangdahlem AFB of non-service related injuries.
In March of 2004 classmate Jack Hurley passed away suddenly in Mountain Home, Idaho. Jack was serving as Pastor at a church in Mountain Home that ministed in large part to military personal. The class was represented at his funeral. Matthew P. Fischer passed away on 02 March 1998. No details of his death are known. Matt hailed from Delaware and was easily recognized by his massive size. If we took a survey of his flight members Matt would be unanimously pronounced the cadet with the perfect memory. His outstanding memory was probably a factor in Matt becoming a Distinguished Aviation Cadet Graduate. His last residence was in the San Francisco Bay area.
David K. Schnyder passed away on 18 December 1998. No details of his death are known. Dave hailed from E. St. Louis, IL and was prior enlisted service USAF. He may have been the oldest cadet in the class. It was rumored that Dave was married all the way through the cadet program and his family attended the graduation.
Jon M. Meador passed away in March 1977. He was originally from Klamath Falls, OR. Jon was in Cadet Flight B-2. He may have been living in Lane, Oregon when he passed away. This death confirmation can be assumed to be a highly probable.
Charles P. McNeff passed away on 19 December 1997. He was originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. 'Phil' was a cadet in Flight B-4. Prior to enlisting as an aviation cadet he attended Culver Military Academy and college in the Indianapolis area. Phil was the lead navigator assigned to the 1970 Son Tay POW camp in North Vietnam. He is believed to have passed away in Hawaii. In 1995 Phil attended the 61-09 class reunion in San Antonio.
Willis G. Snyder 61-09, B-4
Former 61-09 cadet Willis G. Snyder died Sept. 05, 2005. Willis was a
very private man and passed away at the VA hospital in San Francisco
after a long bout with cancer. Will's son resides in San Francisco and
was able to be with his father. After graduating from Harlingen AFB,
Will Snyder did a tour as a navigator before going to pilot training.
After pilot training Will was assigned to ATC as an IP in T-37s. Will
shared with me the details of a unique accident involving himself and a
student. Apparently he was the IP on a training flight with a student
who used the T-37 to commit suicide. To the end of his life Will
suffered from injuries sustained in that accident. In addition to
aviating, Will finished an undergraduate and law degree. He was
extremely well know in the dog breeding world. His breeding stock of
Vizsla dogs are world renown. The dog world was central in his life up
until he required hospitalization for cancer. Another very bright and
deep man from our ranks has flown west.
Jim Peterka has 'flown west.' He died on Feb. 24, 2007 after a long and valiant struggle with ALS (Lou Gehrigs Disease). Jim was always upbeat and usually seen with a broad smile. Let us salute his passing and give thanks for his time with us.
June 2, 2010
Rufus Lynwood Edwards
(1940 - 2010)
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rufus Lynwood Edwards, of Crestview, Florida joined his
Heavenly Family on Saturday May 29, 2010 at 7:41 p.m. in Pensacola, FL.
Born in Pensacola, Florida in 1940, Mr. Edwards was raised in Theodore,
Al. where he graduated from High School in 1958. He attended Officer
Candidate School in 1960, becoming a navigator, an R.I.O. (radar
intercept officer) and ultimately a Fighter Pilot with the Air Force in
1967. He served three combat tours in the Vietnam Conflict including one
combat tour with Misty FAC. He received numerous awards for his service
including the Meritorious Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross,
Air Medal, and Air Force Commendation Medal. He served as Operations
Officer and then Commander to the 78th and 92nd Squadrons at Bentwaters
AFB, England. Later he served as the Air Force Advisor to the Louisiana
Air National Guard in Houma, La. where he was honored by the Governor of
the State of Louisiana with the Award of the Honor of the Order of the
Pelican.
He retired from the Air Force in 1984, after 25 years of service. His
last assignment before retiring was at Eglin Air Force Base at the
Tactical Air Warfare Command (TAWC). After retiring from the Air Force,
he became a residential/commercial builder, opening R.L.Edwards,
Builder, Inc. in Crestview, Florida. He worked as a builder for ten
years before retiring to pursue his passions of traveling and hunting.
He is survived by wife Delores Pritchard Edwards of Crestview, Florida,
son Daniel Edwards, of Jalalbad, Afghanistan, and daughter Julie Edwards
and son-in-law Marc Hayes of Pace, Florida. He is survived by
grandchildren Joseph Blank, Tarrance and Sean Edwards, and Erin Hayes.
He was predeceased by his father Rufus Everett Edwards, his mother Jewel
D. Edwards and sister Suzanne Clements.
There will be a service honoring Mr. Edwards in Crestview Florida at
Whitehurst Funeral Home in Crestview on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The family
will receive friends from 9 a.m. until commencement of services.
Mr. Edwards will be buried at Memorial Gardens in Mobile, Alabama
following a short service at the Mobile Memorial Gardens Funeral Home on
Thursday at 2 p.m.. The family will receive friends there from 1 p.m.
until service time.
The family prefers, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the
American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or the American Heart
Association at www.heart.org
Guest register and condolences are available online at
www.whitehurstpowellfuneralhome.com
Published in Northwest Florida Daily News on June 1, 2010
David Eschelweck
Vic Fukai