There was nothing simple or straightforward about David's life journey. There was adventure and there was drama from his early years to his tragic end. DAVID JAMES COLGANwas born into a large loving New York family, one of eight siblings, the children of William and Anna Colgan, and brought up in Astoria, Queens. David's father was a civil engineer employed by the City of New York. The Colgans were a strong, close, devout Catholic family and visitors found a warm welcome, especially when they were David's cadet friends. The love and mutual support within the family were palpable. David told of his experience sitting in and taking lecture notes for one of his older brothers who was holding down a job while pursuing his college education.

The family was impacted heavily by WWII. Three of the boys, Richard, Joseph, and David were called into service. Richard and Joseph were infantrymen while David served in the Army Air Corps. David completed basic training and courses in radio operations and gunnery. The crew flew several bomb raids over Germany and occupied Europe. On their last mission, a bomb run over Berlin in February 1945, their Flying Fortress was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and disabled. Determining that there was no way that the plane could make it back to the base in England, the aircraft commander undertook a crash landing in Poland behind the Soviet lines. The crew survived the landing and was picked up immediately by Russian troops and temporarily interned in a Russian farm village. They remained in custody for a few weeks until a U.S. Army search team operating out of a base near Poltava, Ukraine, learned of their whereabouts, secured their release and evacuated them through Iran back to England. In the meantime, the Colgan family learned that both Richard and Joseph had been killed in action during the Battle of the Bulge. In memory of Richard and Joseph, the Colgan family dedicated the stained glass window depicting Joan of Arc at the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at West Point.

Arrangements were made to bring David back to the United States. Through the good offices of his congressman, David was offered an appointment to the Military Academy. He accepted the appointment and entered with the Class of '48, shortly afterward to be redesignated the Class of '49.

David's ups and downs with academics earned him a star for his b-robe but did not deter him from his determination to graduate. He was a B-2er for four years. He possessed a droll sense of humor, a New Yorker's healthy skepticism, and a strong faith, a family heritage. His brother, Tom, completed seminary studies and was ordained the same week that David had graduated and commissioned into the Coast Artillery Corps.

Like other classmates, David spent several weeks of graduation leave visiting Europe. His journey began from New York and ended at Bremerhaven, Germany, where he visited a B-2 friend. He visited cities in Austria, Denmark, and England, and even traveled to Berlin, which was still being sustained by the airlift as the result of the Soviet blockade.
In August, David reported for the basic course at the Ground General School, Ft. Riley, KS, but his Army career was destined to be very short. David's goal had been a commission into the Air Force, but the number of graduating cadets who wanted Air Force exceeded the ceiling. It took a few months before he and several other classmates aspiring to wear Air Force blue were discharged from the Army and commissioned in the Air Force.

Initially, he was trained at Ellington AFB and Mather AFB and joined the 86th Bomb Squadron in England, where he served three years as a navigator-bombardier. Following assignments in the Washington area and two years on the faculty at the Air Force Academy in the Department of Navigation, David served two years as Assistant Air Attache in Moscow. Upon graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1964, David served three years at the Defense Intelligence Agency. During that assignment, he met and proposed to Katharine Suber of Kathwood, Aiken County, SC, a most felicitous outcome for a bachelor gentleman whose sights and standards had long been set high.

A year with the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing in Udon, Thailand, preceded two and a half years (1968-70) in Stuttgart, Germany at Headquarters European Command. In 1970, David's experience and Russian language skills led to assignment as the senior Air Force representative and air team chief at the U.S. Military Liaison Mission to the Soviet Forces in Berlin and Potsdam, Germany. In 1973, the Colgans bade farewell to Germany and reported for one last assignment with the 24th North American Air Defense Region at Malmstrom AFB, MT. During the four years in Montana, David developed an enduring interest and love for the West.

In 1977, he retired from active duty and the Colgan family moved into their dream home in Augusta, GA, close to Katharine's roots in South Carolina and raised their three children: Katharine, Anna, and son David. He and Katharine cherished these years and proved to be experts in the care and improvement of their beautiful historic home on Walton Way.

In 1998, his son, David, took a break from his career and went to Idaho to assist a friend in the planting of a vineyard on a property near Boise. David, the son, invited his father. The call to the West and the happy prospect of working beside his son in that endeavor were more than David could resist. He also saw it an invitation to join the young people. He took great joy in the turn of events and also traveled Idaho to join the work. Tragically, on 1 October 1998, David was on a slope, operating a tractor and it got out of control, overturned and killed him.

In addition to Katharine, his daughters and their husbands, and his son, David is survived by grandsons Shawn Patrick Vincent, Connor David Vincent, William Travis Doss III, and granddaughter Katharine Hammond Doss. Other survivors are brothers Tom and Robert, and sisters Anna, Theresa, and Jeanne Marie "Bambi". His beautiful family mourns David and many friends and classmates miss his wit, laughter, and cheerful attitude toward life.

A classmate

Personal Eulogy