This is a list of those FACs who took their last flight during 2022 and some from other years because we recently discovered their passing.
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Flew West 2022

Slow hand salute to these brave warriors
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Announcements:












My Uncle Joe passed away this afternoon. He was an amazing person. A grandpa, father, brother, husband, uncle, cousin, and friend. Three tours of Vietnam, multiple awards of valor…was a part of the joint task force that took down Noriega…in charge of the Air Force Institute…was part of the command near the DMZ in Korea…served three tours at the Air Force Academy. He grew up in Oklahoma and in San Diego. He became a black belt in Judo. He attended San Diego State and was a part of the Air Force ROTC program. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy was the keynote speaker at SDSU graduation and he was able to shake his hand a few months before his assassination. He was a Forward Air Control pilot where he would conduct numerous flights over the enemy, call in strikes, engage the enemy at low flying levels, and spot our troops. He was a master parachutist. After retirement from the Air Force, he became Commandant of Cadets at Norwich University in Vermont. He later retired to his home in Colorado Springs, overlooking the Air Force Academy. He lived ten years in Hawaii where I lived with him. He was a constant mentor, loving uncle, and second father figure to me. I have so many loving memories, laughter, and joy of my Uncle Joseph Potter….  He rests in peace, joyous he joins his brother, Mike, my brother Billy Joe, and his parents in Heaven. Hats off to my uncle. Will be missed. ❤️              
Jim Doyle, Bomber 32
Larry and I served with 19 TASS at Bien Hoa Air Base circa 1966-67. Larry was our squadron Quality Control Inspector and also a solid mentor to this wet behind the ears Crew Chief. He was a no-nonsense NCO and 100% dedicated to our mission. He earned the respect of all who knew and worked with him.  Sergeant Reynolds inspected our aircraft (O-1’s) after 100 hour maintenance. I followed him many times during his inspection; he was very strict and always looking for the minutest discrepancy. I believe his time as a flight engineer and being on flying status contributed to his keen eye. I learned a lot from Larry and became a better Crew Chief under his guidance.
 

Slow Hand Salute to a dedicated Airman.

Crew Chief Bob Green

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Larry's Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/globegazette/name/larry-reynolds-obituary?id=34899496




Dear Brad,
Kaew (Gail) Cappel, Jay's wife, called me March 9th to inform me that Jay had passed away March 6th, 2022, while in Hospice care in Las Vegas, NV where they had lived for many years after he retired from the USAF.Here are my thoughts, after a phone conversation with Gail:

·      John (Jay) Cappel

·      Loving Husband, Father, Grandfather

·      Forward Air Controller (O-1 Bird Dog, Vietnam, 1967-68)

·      Passed away in Hospice Care, Las Vegas, NV

·      March 6th, 2022, after a long battle with Cancer.

·      Jay requested cremation with no services or ceremony.

·      I knew him as a man of exceptional competence, courage and deep faith in God;


Self-effacing to a fault; family man, loving and caring despite his years of pain stemming from injuries he received while being shot down September 7, 1967, during a night mission to relieve an Australian position under attack by the Viet Cong.

That story is told in "CLEARED HOT Book Two" pages 122-128.

It took 40 years to get told, but we cornered him at the Colorado Springs Reunion where Kip Taylor and I implored him to hand write just a page or so to get his incredible story told.  He delivered a few weeks later in time for us to add our part in the story and pass it by the Aussies who performed the rather heroic rescue after daylight the morning after the crash. 
Over the years since, he quietly had the PURPLE HEART medal and ribbon from that action framed and mounted, prominently, in his living room.

Rest peacefully in the Lord, Jay.

Slow, reverend hand salute