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KING HIGH REMEMBERS PROJECT

Col. John D. McSpaddenAir Force

Vietnam and Cold WarAlexandra Mardirosian

Brandon HarrisPer. 6

Mrs. Barnard

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Early Life 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

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Education Geneva Grade School Geneva High School Miami University of Ohio on a JROTC

scholarship from Sep. 1952 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, 1957

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Training 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 1960

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First Mission First operational assignment was in

Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana as a navigator in July 1960

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Service 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

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Service Upon return from Thailand in April of

1973 he was made Chief of Operations for the 17th Bomb Wing

In 1975 the 17th Bomb Wing was closed down

Sent to Carswell AFB, Texas There he was made Chief of Moral and

Welfare

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Picture of Receiving 100 Mission Patch

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His Wife, Karen

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Children

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Pictures of Family

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Awards Received

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Retirement From the Air Force In September 1977 he retired from the

Air Force after being a Colonel for 20 years

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Work After Retirement 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

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Retirement 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

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

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Current Picture