Veteran's Day Issue Next Week

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

You readers know that we make a special effort to recognize our veteran classmates on Veteran's Day every year. For the past several years I have posted a video listing the names of our classmates who served in the military. Next week we will feature an updated video of our veterans which you will not want to miss. 

If you have noticed in the past that a classmate from 1964-1967 has been overlooked in our previous tributes, I am asking you to inform me of their name and branch of service ASAP so they might be added to the honored list. Use the form below to do so.

Also, we have a special section recognizing any classmate who was wounded and received the Purple Heart medal. Again, if someone has been overlooked, we need to know.

Finally, if any of you want to add a personal note or recognition to or about a classmate or classmates, you may use the comments form below to do so.  

Another Lee Lunch Bunch Report

October 23, 2025

Carolyn Burgess Featheringill

LHS '65

Some 40 members of the Fami-Lee gathered at Carrabba's in Huntsville on Thursday, October 23rd, a beautiful fall day.  We were especially glad to see one of our regulars Linda Weldon '65 from western North Carolina who missed the event last fall as her community recovered from Hurricane Helene.  It's always a joy to see everyone's favorite English teacher Miss Faulkner - - "Sue" to us now that we're "grown." Dwight Jones '64 added to the fun by sharing reunion pictures and his '64 Silver Sabre, reminding us of "the way we were" and sparking many conversations beginning with "do you remember."

Classmates may recall that the Traveller of our high school days occasionally gave a "nerves of steel" award.  Current awards and thanks should go to the spouses who join us and put up with our reminiscences, to Patsy Hughes Oldroyd '65 for making the arrangements for the gathering as she has from the beginning and to Tommy Towery for keeping us together after all these years.

As always, the day began with laughter, handshakes and hugs and ended the same way with promises to "keep in touch."  That's just how it is with the Fami-Lee!

The Wayback Machine

"Radar Men from the Moon"

 Chapter 9 - Battle in the Stratosphere

We continue the serial this week, just like they did back in the movies during our times.

I realize I have never really posted about my own military career or expanded on the reason I always honor the veterans of Veteran's Day. The photo above is me attending the local Veteran's Day Ceremony last year. (Yes, I can still get in my uniform!) Here is a short description of my own personal military service. There were eight officers in my Electronic Warfare Class and we were all assigned to B-52 bomber crews. Of that eight, four (half of us) were involved in B-52 incidents and accidents. Two of my classmates were killed in crashes and two more were shot down in Vietnam and became Prisoners of war.

I earned a B.S. degree in Journalism in 1968 from Memphis State University where I also earned a commission as a 2nd Lt. through the Air Force ROTC program. I attended Navigator Training and Electronic Warfare Officer Training at Mather AFB, CA. Following B-52 Combat Crew training at Castle AFB, CA. I next was assigned to the 20th Bomb Squadron at Carswell AFB, TX.  I served as a 7th Bomb Wing Combat Intelligence briefer and a Penetration Aids staff officer while grounded from flying status for kidney stones. In 1972 I deployed for six months to Guam as part of “Operation Bullet Shot” and was assigned to 8th Air Force Bomber Operations as an Arc Light mission planner. Three month after returning from my first deployment I was sent on a second six-month TDY to Guam where I worked as an Arc Light planner in the 43rd Bomb Wing Bomber Operations. It was during this assignment that I flew on B-52 combat missions as a staff officer and helped plan Linebacker II missions. Upon return to full flight duty status I was assigned to a B-52D crew at Carswell AFB, TX. Shortly thereafter I deployed to Guam and Thailand for another three months with my first crew and later progressed from crew duty to instructor to standboard duty on Crew S-1. During the Cold War my crew and I performed nuclear alert every third week, required to launch our aircraft in 15 minutes in response to a nuclear attack. In 1976 I and my crew received the Mathis Trophy, awarded to the top bomber crew based on combined results in bombing and navigation in the SAC Bomb-Nav Competition.

Following my B-52 assignment, in 1978 I was transferred to the RC-135 program at Offutt AFB, NE and flew operation reconnaissance missions from forward operating bases in Okinawa, Greece, England, and Alaska. These missions were routinely intercepted by Russian fighters, armed with air-to-air missiles. In 1983 I was assigned to a four-year tour as an Electronic Warfare Intelligence officer and briefer at RAF Mildenhall, UK. In that position I briefed foreign ministers, high ranking military leaders, and Congressmen and Senators on the mission of the reconnaissance wing. In 1986 I was a participant in Operation El Dorado Canyon, the bombing of military facilities in Libya in retaliation for a terrorist attack in Berlin. Upon my return to the states I spent my last year of active duty as an Electronic Warfare Intelligence staff officer with the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Offutt AFB, NE. I retired as a Major in 1988 with 20 years of active duty credit. During my career I logged over 1,600 flying hours in B-52s and over 5,000 hours total flight time. 

My decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, two Air Force Commendation Medals, the Air Medal with eight oak leaf clusters, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the South Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm. 

Last Week's Questions, Answers, And Comments

Delores McBride Kilgore, LHS '66 , "Thank you, Tommy, for always caring for your schoolmates!"

James Wilbourn, LHS ‘65, "Thank you, Tommy, for all of the work and time that you put into this newsletter every week. I look forward to it every weekend. I am very glad that you received a good report from your latest doctor's appointment, and hope that future reports are similar. I was not listed last year among the veterans from Lee who served in our Armed Forces. I dropped out of college and joined the regular Army in September of 1967. After basic training and two AIT schools, I deployed to Vietnam in May of 1968, where I served at forward support base, Tayninh West, a few miles from Cambodia, for a year. Upon returning to the States in May of '69, I spent the remainder of my active duty, until September of 1970, in Ft Leonard Wood, MO, where I worked as an instructor in the Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic School. Subsequently, I went back to college and completed my bachelor's degree in May of 1972."