1 Col. John D. McSpadden Air Force Vietnam and Cold War Alexandra Mardirosian Brandon Harris Per. 6 Mrs. Barnard

 Born in Memphis Tennessee on August 16, 1935  Moved to Battle Creek Michigan a year later in 1935  After living in Michigan for two years he moved to Cleveland Ohio in 1937  He then moved to Geneva Ohio in 1941 after living in Cleveland, Ohio for four years 2

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 Geneva Grade School  Geneva High School  Miami University of Ohio on a JROTC scholarship from Sep to May 1953  Received an appointment to West Point in 1953 while at Miami University  Attended the United States Military Academy at West Point from July 5, 1953 till graduation on June 4,

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 Sent to Graham Air Force Base, Fl for primary pilot training in July 1957  Graduated in March of 1958  Went to Webb Air Force Base, Texas in May 1958 for Basic Fighter Pilot Training  He then washed out in August 1958 because of a reduction in the number of fighter aircraft at the time  Attended Harlingen Air Force Base, Texas in September 1958 for primary navigation training  Graduated first in the class in May 1959  Sent to advanced bombardment training at Mather Air Force Base in May  Graduated in December of 1959  Was sent to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arizona in January 1960 for B-47 combat crew training and completed his training in June

 First operational assignment was in Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana as a navigator in July

 In April of 1966 Larson AFB closed causing him to relocate to March Air Force Base  Flew B-52’s out of March AFB for the next for years  Was sent on temporary duty to Anderson AFB, Guam and U-Tapao Royal AFB, Thailand five times to fly air raids over Vietnam  Flew over 150 missions during this period  December 1972, 100 stage 11 bomb raids in Haiphong to free POW’s 8

 Upon return from Thailand in April of 1973 he was made Chief of Operations for the 17 th Bomb Wing  In 1975 the 17 th Bomb Wing was closed down  Sent to Carswell AFB, Texas  There he was made Chief of Moral and Welfare 9

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 In September 1977 he retired from the Air Force after being a Colonel for 20 years 19

 Him and his family moved back to Riverside in 1977  Worked as a flight operations analyst for the Flying Tigers Airline  In 1989 Fedex bought out Flying Tigers and he worked for Fedex for a few months  After that he worked at EDS and made flight plans for many airlines  After EDS was bought out by Systems One he held the same job 20

 In September 1994 he was forced to retire when he discovered he had a back problem and had a major operation that would restrict him to drive to Los Angles five times a week 21

 He now resides with his wife Karen in Canyon Lake, California and stays active is West Point clubs and Veteran societies. 22

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