story by Darl Devault, contributing editor

For the statewide free Oklahoma Veterans News Magazine to receive a Senate Citation of Recognition after just one year in print serves as powerful validation of its role in bridging the gap between state resources and the Veterans it serves.
Such recognition highlights the magazine’s value as a statewide communication
tool that unifies a community of over 300,000 Veterans.
Co-publishers Steve Eldridge and Veteran Steve Sibley worked together on
its creation for more than a year leading up to the publication’s first issue in May
2025.
This official validation of impact from State Senator Brenda Stanley (R-Midwest
City), who chairs the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, designates the
publication as a trusted source of information for the state’s military community.
This legislative commendation reinforces the magazine’s role as a “vital part of
the state’s identity,” officially acknowledging its mission to pay tribute to the service
and sacrifice of Oklahoma Veterans and their families.
All of this is because the magazine is attempting to help many Veterans who
are unaware of available benefits, such as sales tax exemptions. A recognized
statewide magazine acts as a critical partner in disseminating this essential
information and updates on benefits, services, and new laws, such as the PACT Act
and state-specific tax exemptions.
It also serves as a platform to raise awareness of Veterans-owned businesses
and encourage “patriotic Oklahomans” to support them.
The platform also promotes storytelling and community engagement. It helps
preserve the patriotic legacy by sharing stories of Veterans’ achievements. It
chronicles their sacrifice, fostering a sense of belonging and “collective pride”
across the state.
Its outreach for isolated Veterans continues to expand with over 600 distribution
points-including VFWs, American Legion posts, and VA clinics. This magazine
reaches Veterans who may not have easy access to digital information, partnering
with the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs (ODVA) to feature leadership
and highlight state-run programs and ceremonies.
The content of the document follows:
THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA
Citation of Recognition
EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR THE OKLAHOMA VETERAN NEWS MAGAZINE;
COMMENDING ITS LEADERSHIP; AND DIRECTING DISTRIBUTION.
WHEREAS, Senator Brenda Stanley, Chair of the Senate Veterans and Military
Affairs Committee, proudly supports the mission of the Oklahoma Veteran News Magazine, the first statewide monthly free publication dedicated to serving Oklahoma’s veterans, active-duty service members, and their families; and
WHEREAS, the magazine marks one year in print, reflecting its continued commitment to
informing, connecting and honoring those who have taken the oath to defend the United States;
and
WHEREAS, Oklahoma is home to major installations, including Altus Air Force Base, Fort Sill, McAlester Army Ammunition Plant, Tinker Air Force Base, and Vance Air Force Base, which play a vital role in national defense and serve as key economic drivers; and
WHEREAS, the Oklahoma Veteran News Magazine strengthens the military community by
sharing important information, connecting veterans to resources, and promoting awareness, respect, and appreciation for their service; and
WHEREAS, the Oklahoma Senate recognizes the importance of ensuring veterans and their
families have access to timely, accurate information and honors the service and sacrifice of those who have defended our freedoms;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 60TH OKLAHOMA
LEGISLATURE:
THAT the Oklahoma Senate expresses its support for the Oklahoma Veteran News Magazine
and its mission to serve Oklahoma’s military and veteran community, and THAT co-publishers Steve Eldridge and Veteran Steve Sibley are commended for exemplifying
the spirit of “The Oklahoma Standard” through their dedication to veterans’ affairs and community service; and
THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to
Steve Eldridge and Steve Sibley.
Signed April 22, 2026: Senator Brenda Stanley
Senate District 42

This issue represents our 1st anniversary edition! Twelve issues and still growing and changing to publish the best magazine each month. We can’t provide these things without our readers like you and sponsors.

The continued success of Oklahoma Veteran News Magazine depends on a strong, connected community—and that includes you. We encourage every reader to take a moment to support the businesses and organizations featured in this publication. These sponsors make it possible to share important stories, resources, and updates that serve veterans across our state. By choosing to do business with them, you’re directly helping sustain a platform dedicated to honoring and supporting those who have served.

If you find value in this magazine, consider spreading the word. Recommend Oklahoma Veteran News Magazine to local businesses, organizations, and community leaders who may benefit from reaching a veteran-focused audience. When more businesses step forward to advertise and partner with us, it strengthens our ability to grow, improve, and expand the content we provide.

This publication is more than just a magazine—it’s a voice for Oklahoma’s veteran community. It highlights achievements, addresses challenges, and connects individuals to vital resources. That kind of impact requires ongoing support from both readers and sponsors alike.

Your actions matter. Supporting our sponsors and introducing new ones ensures that this magazine continues to thrive and serve future generations of veterans. Together, we can keep this important resource strong, relevant, and available to all who need it.

As always, We encourage you to give us a call or send us an email and let us know how we are doing and how we can improve. Oklahoma Veteran News is published for you.
Sincerely,
Steve Eldridge and Steve Sibley

Story by Darl Devault, contributing editor

Oklahomans are invited to join Veterans May 14-17 at Mitch Park in Edmond to experience The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. This traveling wall honors the men and women who gave their lives in Vietnam or later died as a result of their service.
“I often enjoy walking in Mitch Park. Having the Wall that Heals there will remind me of the friends I lost during the war and the human cost of the war,” said retired Air Force Col. Chuck DeBellevue. “This will create a sacred and solemn place that helps bring a calmness to the memories of my kind and Vietnam Veterans and their families.”
DeBellevue, 80, retired to Edmond in 1998 after a distinguished 30-year military career and has since been an active speaker to members of the local and veteran communities. His story as the highly decorated last American air ace on active duty, with six aerial victories in 1972 in an F-4 Phantom
II above North Vietnam, is a source of patriotic pride and inspiration for all who hear it.
The Edmond VFW Post 4938 is hosting The Wall That Heals and is recruiting volunteers to assemble it. Through volunteer support, community partnerships, and public engagement, they invite everyone to take part in this shared act of remembrance.
The Mitch Park exhibit spans 375 feet in length and rises to 7.5 feet at
its apex, constructed of Avonite, a durable synthetic granite. It features 140 numbered panels supported by an aluminum frame.
Modern LED lighting illuminates the memorial so names can be read clearly both day and night. Visitors are welcome to do name rubbings of individual service members as a meaningful and personal way to honor those listed.
The Wall’s 140 panels contain the names of more than 58,000 Vietnam service members, 990 of whom are Oklahomans, ensuring accuracy and consistency with the original Memorial.
In addition to open viewing of The Wall, several special ceremonies and community events will take place during the four days. These moments honor specific groups, recognize service, and provide opportunities for reflection and remembrance.
May 14 – 9 a.m. Native American Vietnam Service Recognition Ceremony A ceremony honoring the service and sacrifice of Native American veterans and their Nations who served during the Vietnam War.
May 14 – 6 p.m. Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony
A long-overdue welcome home for Vietnam veterans, recognizing their service, sacrifice, and dedication.
May 15 – 6 p.m. HMONG SGU Recognition Ceremony
Honoring the Hmong Special Guerrilla Units who served alongside U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.

May 16 – 9 p.m. Light Up the Night – Oklahoma County MIA Tribute
A powerful evening tribute honoring the more than 100 Missing in Action service members from Oklahoma County during the Vietnam War. This ceremony will illuminate The Wall in remembrance of those who have not yet come home.
While traveling, the Walls That Heal are more accessible to many Oklahomans, highlighting their significance and encouraging community engagement. Oklahoma is graced with a permanent replica 80% the size of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., dedicated on Veterans Day 2013 in Enid. This replica was retired to Enid after traveling the country, measuring 380 feet long and 8 feet high at its tallest point, and made of anodized aluminum.
Gov. Mary Fallin proclaimed it Oklahoma’s Official Vietnam War Memorial. The memorial reminds patriots that freedom is not free, is open to the public and free of charge from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. year-round, encouraging ongoing engagement and respect.
The Wall stands at Woodring Regional Airport. “It is a somber reminder of those who gave their lives so we can live in freedom, and a tribute to honor our men and women who are serving or have served in the military,” said Gov. Fallin in 2013 at its dedication.
The Living Walls, located across the street from the Vietnam War Memorial in Enid, honor and remember our military heroes. It is dedicated to Oklahoma veterans, active duty, retired, MIA, those killed while serving, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice, fostering pride and respect among visitors.
Just west of the site is the M.L. Becker Educational Center, a collection of permanent and temporary exhibits featuring patriotic, military and war-related memorabilia. The center won a 2019 Oklahoma Museums Association award for Education and Outreach. The center is open by appointment only for student groups, except on Vietnam Veterans Day and Memorial Days, when it is open all day.
Vietnam Veterans have been the focus of a groundswell of recognition over the past 14 years as the U.S. government has executed a sustained, multi-administration effort to provide “overdue recognition” to Vietnam-era Veterans.
The 50th Anniversary Commemoration
(2012-2025), authorized by Congress and launched in 2012, was designed to thank and honor the 9 million Americans who served on active duty between November 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975.
This congressional mandate’s primary objective was to “right a wrong” for Veterans who were often ignored or mistreated upon their initial return home.
In reaction to this effort, more than 11,000 local, state, and national organizations, such as the VFW, have partnered with the Department of Defense to host thousands of community-based events.
The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 codified the nation’s commitment to Vietnam Veterans by establishing March 29 as National Vietnam War Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, D.C. Veterans Day.

That date was chosen because it marks the anniversary of when the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam, and the last prisoners of war were released in 1973. The act added March 29 to the list of days on which the U.S. flag should be specifically
displayed to honor these Veterans.
A central feature of the 50th-anniversary efforts has been the distribution of Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pins in formal ceremonies as a “Token of Gratitude”: These pins, featuring the message “A Grateful Nation Thanks and Honors You,” were presented at public ceremonies to provide a “welcome home” that many never received. Since 2012, more than 3 million. Veterans have been publicly thanked at more than 21,000 ceremonies.
Most importantly, recognition has also shifted toward addressing the long-term physical toll of the war with expanded health research and benefits.
The VA launched the Vietnam Era Health Retrospective Observational Study in 2016, the most comprehensive health assessment of this Veteran group since the 1980s, focusing on the impacts of Agent Orange and PTSD. And most recently, the new PACT Act integration at the VA in recent years has been offering toxic exposure screenings and expanded healthcare enrollment specifically for Vietnam-era Veterans.

Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Lakota Lancaster grew up far from the ocean in rural Okmulgee, Oklahoma, but now his work supports U.S. Navy missions and protects American interests worldwide.
From a young age, Lancaster developed an interest in aircraft and aviation. After graduating from Preston High School in 2021, he enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to Patrol Squadron (VP) 45, a maritime patrol squadron based at Naval Air Station Jacksonville.
Known as the “Pelicans,” the squadron operates the P-8A Poseidon. As an aviation electronics technician, Lancaster maintains and repairs electronic systems on the aircraft. His work supports missions such as anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering, surveillance, and search-and-rescue operations that rely on the aircraft’s radar, communication, and sensor systems.
One of Lancaster’s favorite parts of the Navy is the opportunity to travel.
“You get to go everywhere,” said Lancaster. “It doesn’t matter if you’re on a fixed-wing platform or a boat.”
During Lancaster’s time in the U.S. Navy, he traveled to seven countries, collaborating with allied partners during exercises such as Sea Dragon 2026 in Guam. Lancaster plans to continue serving and hopes to advance through the enlisted ranks with the goal of becoming a master chief petty officer.
Sea Dragon is a U.S.-led, multinational exercise designed to train anti-submarine warfare tactics and to operate together in response to maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.

Across the country, state and local governments, nonprofits, certain tribes and other community organizations are going to share in a $112 million grant program for their work in veterans suicide prevention. The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (also known as SSG Fox SPGP) promotes outreach to identify veterans at risk, clinical services for emergency treatment, case management, baseline screening, education, peer support, help with connecting with benefits and more. Help can also be in the form of temporary income support, legal services, child care, financial counseling and fiduciary help.

And it works: Over 90% of veterans who got these services reported improvements in their mental health and well-being.

The grant organizations will work with local VA medical centers to verify that the individual is a veteran, has some risk factors (such as traumatic brain injury, recent loss, homelessness or history of abuse) and has been assessed as to the degree of risk of suicide.

Veteran suicide stats are, as they always have been, grim to consider. The national suicide report for 2025 says that the number of suicides have decreased (for 2023, the last year numbers were available). Specifically, 2023 had 44 fewer veteran suicides than in 2022. The report calls that an “encouraging” result — even though the number for 2023 was a whopping 6,398 veterans.

In an analysis of the stats, 61% of those veterans were not getting VA health care. The group most affected were veterans ages 18 to 34 with risk factors of homelessness, health problems and pain, with pain being the biggest risk factor.
\

To learn all the details about the SSG Fox SPGP grant program, see www.mentalhealth.va.gov/ssgfox-grants/docs/SSG-Fox-SPGP-Program-Guide-508.pdf.

If you (or a veteran you know) are at risk for suicide, call the VA crisis hotline at 988, then press 1. That’s all you need to dial. Or text to 838255. Or go online to chat at
www.veteranscrisisline.net. Somebody is there 24/7. It’s free and confidential, and you don’t have to be enrolled in VA health care or benefits.
(c) 2026 King Features Synd., Inc

Faith has long played an important role in Crystal McGee DePue’s life in which she lost her father at age 12, and the loss of two husbands.

Born in Tehran, Iran, DePue’s parents, who hailed from Edmond, served as missionaries with the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions in that country from the late 1940s until 1954 when they returned to the United States.

The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (PCUSA) was organized in 1837 because of General Assembly (Old School) action. Its creation marked the culmination of a discussion covering a period of years as to whether missionary operations should be carried on by voluntary societies, or by the Church in its organized capacity.

“I had come to know the Lord and I had lost my father as a 12-year-old, and I knew that God had seen me and my brothers and sisters through that,” DePue, a resident of Villagio of Bradford Village Independent Living /Assisted Living, located at 300 Enz Drive in Edmond said. “I (later in life) told my kids, God has promised to be a father to the fatherless and a husband to the widow, and we’re just going to trust that that’s what’s going to happen even though it’s hard.”

DePue, 75, said her family moved to upstate New York upon returning home from Iran in what was supposed to be a year-long sabbatical.

“I moved first to New York City and stayed there for six months,” she said. “Then we moved to upstate New York because we were back supposedly on a furlough. It was just supposed to be a year of being back in the States, visiting family, getting refreshed and ready to go back. But my father was found to have serious health problems, and the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions wouldn’t send him back.”

DePue said her father continued doing mission work in upstate New York and at a women’s college in Ohio before moving their family back to Oklahoma where he worked as an accountant.

After graduating high school in Edmond, DePue attended a Presbyterian college in Clarksville, Arkansas before attending the University of Central Oklahoma.

It was at UCO where she met her first husband James “Rudy” McGee through a friend. Within two months of dating they were engaged.

“His name was James Brent, but his college roommate had a poster of Rudolph Valentino and thought he looked like that. So, they called him Rudy,” she said.

DePue said Rudy served in the United States Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Her son Jameson, a retired U.S. Marine Lt. Col. also served at the same military base in Okinawa, Japan as his father.

After leaving the Marines Rudy became a teacher and taught at several schools in Kansas before landing at his last school in Goddard, Kansas.

In 1985, Rudy was killed by a student in a school shooting along with several others left injured.

“He was shot and killed right after we found out I was pregnant with our fourth child,” DePue said.

She later moved her family back to Edmond to be closer to family.

“We moved back here. I can tell stories of how God provided a house right behind my sister’s house,” she said. “I got Workman’s comp because he was killed on the job. So, that and Social Security allowed me to stay home and have the baby.”’
DePue later worked as a secretary for an oil and gas company before retiring.
Faith continued to tug at DePue’s heart, and she served a year as a missionary in Lyon, France.

“Faith gives meaning to life,” she said. “I don’t know how people make it in this world, particularly now without faith. God has proven himself faithful. As a single parent I had a choice of whether I can do it with God or without God. And I chose God.”

DePue later remarried to the Rev. Dale DePue, who served as the pastor at First United Presbyterian Church in Guthrie, and later served as a State Representative in the Oklahoma Legislature.

DePue said her husband had developed several health issues and moved to Villagio of Bradford Village Assisted Living.

“They took such wonderful care of him, and since it was COVID, I couldn’t go visit him. But when the weather was nice, they would let him come out and we could walk the community,” she said.

DePue later moved into an Independent Living cottage in Villagio of Bradford Village.

She said she enjoys living there.

“They’re very intentional about keeping us active and keeping our minds engaged and keeping us socially engaged,” she said. “It’s a great place to be. I keep telling people it’s where I need to be.” • by Van Mitchell, staff writer

For more information about Villagio of Bradford Village call (405) 348-6945 or visit www.villagioliving.com.

The Charles Bachlor’s WWII Story

Charles “Ray” Bachlor, born in Tulsa in 1927, spent part of his teenage years in Houma, Louisiana, between 1940 and 1942, attending high school as a sophomore and junior. His family moved frequently. “We followed the oil fields,” he recalled. His father, Roy, managed a supply store for an oil field supply company. Located 57 miles southwest of New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico, Houma was a quiet oil town-until the war arrived.

A ‘secret’ war on the Gulf
During WWII, German U-boats prowled the Gulf of Mexico. “Houma soon found itself in the midst of a ‘secret’ war-one in which one or more oil tankers were being torpedoed each week near Wine Island after being loaded with oil,” wrote Bachlor after the war. “The ‘U-boat’ would fire an explosive torpedo to spread the oil and then an incendiary to light it. Merchant seamen would have to dive into the burning oil. Sometimes the sub would surface and machine gun survivors. Those who managed to survive… were picked up by our shrimp boats and brought to the hospitals in Houma and Morgan City.”

“Ellender Hospital in Houma was overwhelmed, and folding cots covered the grounds outside the hospital. The sweet smell of burning flesh permeated the air long before you reached the hospital. Women of the town-including my mother-volunteered to help the overworked hospital staff.”

Kimberly Guise, a curator at the National WWII Museum, confirmed these accounts. Bachlor recorded a grim tally: between 1942 and 1943, 88 tankers sunk and 1,471 dead-Americans killed just offshore.

Back to Tulsa
Bachlor finished high school in Sand Springs in 1943 and briefly attended Tulsa University. He tried to enlist in the Navy but was drafted into the U.S. Army on March 1, 1945, as a private.

Basic training
He began basic infantry training at Camp Livingston, Louisiana, in March for seven weeks. One day, a paratrooper visited. The man’s appearance and the unique duty of an elite organization intrigued him. “I was afraid of heights so I joined the paratroopers to overcome that fear,” Bachlor admitted.

Paratrooper training
Transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia, he entered paratrooper training. “Our first week was in the sawdust pits where we were doing nothing but PT. Fifty minutes of PT and 10 minutes rest and 50 minutes more… And every day we’d go on long runs.”

The second week brought a new challenge: “We were jumping from a 34-foot tower… the scariest of all, because you dropped 34 feet and then this cable caught you after (falling 19 feet), then you go down a line to a sawdust pit.” All this to overcome a fear of heights!

By the third week, they were packing their own parachutes and, “We’d hang harnesses and learn to guide ourselves, pulling on our shroud lines.” That week, they were also dropped from 250-foot towers.

“Fourth week we jumped every day. And then we made a night jump and then we got our wings…So, we had to make two marches in combat situations and C-47 to came in, picked us up, and we would make a simulated combat jump. And, so then you graduated.”

The war ends
Bachlor trained for a possible airborne assault on Japan. Then, the United States demolished Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, with atomic bombs. National leaders wanted to avoid at least 500,000 American casualties during a land invasion of Japan. “There were a lot of people that were in the military that were happy about dropping the bomb…and I think it was only later that a lot of people had second thoughts about how terrible the bomb was…but in the end run, it saved a lot of lives,” he said. “It shortened the war.”

Japan officially surrendered on September 2, 1945. Bachlor’s orders to join the 13th Parachute Division at Fort Lewis were canceled. Instead, he remained at Fort Benning as a parachute school instructor, earning the rank of Staff Sergeant.

A Long military career
After leaving the Army in 1948, Bachlor earned an Engineering Physics degree, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1950 and taught infantry basic training at Fort Chaffey, Arkansas, until May 1951. He later worked for the Security Advisory Group-Japan from 1952-1954 and taught at the Command & General Staff College, Ft. McArthur, Calif.

When Colonel Bachlor retired in 1979, he had served 34 years-rising from private to colonel, an achievement few attain. His life story stands as a testament to courage and dedication. He lives in Tulsa. •
story and photos by Lt Col Richard Stephens, Jr., USAFR, Ret.

Weatherford’s Stafford Air and Space Museum, located at 3000 Logan Road near historic Route 66, offers visitors an extraordinary journey through aviation and space exploration.

From airplanes to space craft
Weatherford’s Stafford Air and Space Museum, located at 3000 Logan Road near historic Route 66, offers visitors an extraordinary journey through aviation and space exploration. Its packed galleries showcase rockets, aircraft, space suits, engines, and other artifacts – many connected to Oklahoma’s celebrated astronaut, Lieutenant General Thomas Stafford. The museum traces the story of flight from the Wright Brothers to the moon landings, with more than 50 American and Soviet technological achievements arranged in rough chronological order. Plan at least two hours to take it all in. Let’s blast off.

The world of controlled, heavier-than-air powered flights started on December 17, 1903, when the Wright Brothers flew the Wright Flyer. A full-scale replica can be seen as well as other early aircraft like an actual Sopwith Pup and replicas of a Bleriot XI, Curtiss Pusher, and Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. Visitors can use a “Star Tour Guide” handout to learn about each exhibit. Reflecting on the rapid pace of progress, Doug Schones of Canute remarked, “From 1903 to 1969, such a short time (one life time), so much technology.”
Rockets and Engines Take Center Stage
The heart of the museum lies in its space exhibits. Among them is an actual German WWII V-2 rocket, as well as F-1, J-2, and Soviet NK-33 engines. The mighty Saturn V moon rocket required five F-1 Rocketdyne engines, producing 7.6 million pounds of thrust, to send astronauts to the moon. A Titan II rocket, the same type Stafford rode into orbit during his Gemini 6 and 9 missions in 1965 and 1966, respectfully, is also displayed. Interactive exhibits let visitors hear-and almost feel – the immense power of rockets.

Houston’s Johnson Space Center contributed an authentic Mission Control Console used from the Gemini program through the Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and the early Shuttle eras. Another highlight is the actual Gemini 6A spacecraft that Stafford and Wally Schirra flew during the first-ever rendezvous in space with Gemini 7 on December 15, 1965.

A towering, full-scale replica of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) “Eagle” is displayed. In 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. piloted a LM like this to become the first humans to walk on the moon. Nearby, Stafford’s Apollo 10 spacesuit – composed of 18,000 parts – offers a tangible link to his historic mission in May 1969.

International Space Station
Space Station fans will enjoy seeing a 1/24th scale model that illustrates the complexity of the orbiting laboratory. Interactive displays explain its components and the multinational crews who have lived and worked aboard. Viewing the model, Angela Correll of Ponca City observed, “This (ISS) is what keeps us connected” because astronauts from many nations share the station. Visitors are encouraged to download the “Spot the Station” smartphone app to track its path overhead.

Cold War and Modern Aircraft
The museum has an impressive collection of fighter airplanes. Outside are four and inside, visitors encounter an F-86 “Sabre,” Soviet MIG-21R “Fishbed,” T-38 “Talon,” F-16 “Fighting Falcon” and 2024’s addition, a F-117A “Nighthawk” stealth fighter. The MIG-21R served as the Soviet Bloc’s front-line fighter during the Cold War. The F-117A, a stealth fighter which Stafford helped develop, flew combat sorties during Operation Desert Storm, Allied Force and Iraqi Freedom, according to the Star Tour Guide.

Honoring Thomas Stafford
General Stafford was born and raised in Weatherford. The museum’s website notes, “His mother came to Oklahoma in a covered wagon and lived to see her only child fly to the moon. His father was a dentist who taught his son to appreciate what he had by working hard for it.” With a lot of hard work and natural abilities, Stafford graduated at the top 10% of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy and later became “Chief of Astronauts at NASA, was appointed Head of Research and Development at the Pentagon, chaired the team that developed the Hubble instrument COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement), worked at Area 51, and (was) responsible for Stealth Technology as we know it today.” His career included four historic space missions: Gemini 6A, Gemini 9, Apollo 10, and Apollo-Soyuz, where he commanded Apollo’s final flight. Lieutenant General Stafford lived from September 17, 1930 – March 18, 2024, reaching the age of 93.

Completing the Visit
Open seven days a week, the Stafford Air and Space Museum, blends history, technology, and human achievement into an unforgettable experience. Note. Museum personnel did not respond to requests for an interview. •
story and photos by Lt Col Richard Stephens, Jr., USAFR, Ret.

By Jill Stephenson.

Army PFC Jon Townsend of Claremore was killed September 16, 2012 while actively serving in Afghanistan. He was 19 and left behind a wife and many loving family members and friends. One of those family members was his sister Jennifer, who was six years older than Jon. I interviewed her for this article.

Before Jon started school it was clear he was smart and patriotic. He could recite the pledge of allegiance, sing Amazing Grace and knew his multiplication tables. He was actively involved in 4H where he won numerous awards and was influenced by a band teacher to play almost any instrument he picked up, including the trumpet, drums and guitar.

As a young boy, one of Jon’s heroes was the tv character, “ Walker, Texas Ranger”. He admired his heroism in fighting bad guys and saving good girls. According to Jennifer, he would also walk around in a beat up cowboy hat and kick things like a cowboy would. Jennifer said she would call him Noj just to annoy him and that many people called him Jon Ross.

Jon was actively involved in his church and enjoyed sharing his faith with others. He was a talented musician and tutored other kids in his band class. He also played football during high school and was seen playing with the band while wearing his football uniform. Days after graduating from Sequoyah High School in May of 2011, Jon left for bootcamp.

While overseas, he took to the children and asked his family to send candy and wet wipes for them. He said he wanted them to know he was a good guy. Before Jon left for his deployment he married his sweetheart and made a video to watch in the event of his death. He had also been mentoring several youth from local churches. They would meet in a peaceful spot overlooking Claremore Lake where they shared personal issues with him they didn’t feel comfortable talking about in church. After Jon was killed, his family collaborated with his friends to create a memorial in that place to honor him. Jennifer remarked that to this day, it is the place where she feels the closest to him. In December of 2015, a one mile section of highway 88 between Oologah and Jon’s church was dedicated as the PFC Jon Ross Townsend Memorial Highway. Jennifer drives by this often and says it makes her feel good that people still place memorial items there in his honor. She would like people to know that Jon believed in what he was doing. He was there to share God’s word and to help people that couldn’t help themselves. He led several of his fellow soldiers to God. They called him, “God’s soldier” and “Preacher Boy.” After his death, one of the wives of his brothers in arms had a patch made that said “God’s Soldier” on it. They wore them under a flap on their uniform in his honor.

I asked Jennifer why she thinks it’s important for the public to know about our fallen heroes. She said there are many reasons. They gave the ultimate sacrifice – not just for those they know, but for people they never met, for the possibility and hope for a better life, and to know that what they’ve done will make a difference.

To keep his memory alive, Jennifer still talks about her brother to her children. She reminisced of the great hugs he gave and said her son now gives her the same kind. Her son was four and oldest daughter was two when Jon died. She has since had another daughter. She has been honest about what happened to him and shared with them that Jon loved God and his family and friends and he died serving his country. If he was still here he would do it all over again.

Jennifer stated that Jon grew up without a dad and believes this is why he made the switch with a fellow soldier the night he died. Jon said to him, “You need to be able to stay in and get some rest and call your kids. I’ll take your turn and you can take mine later.” He saw the importance of being a father because he grew up without one. He would pay with his life so children he never knew would still have a father.

PFC Jon Ross Townsend is laid to rest next to his grandfather, who was his father figure, at Lone Chapel Cemetery in Pryor. He is loved and missed every day. •
story by Jill Stephenson, Gold Star Mother.