BG Walter J. Bacon II USAF (Retired)
Cullum: 18075
Class: '51
Cadet Company: A2
Date of Birth: September 23, 1928
Date of Death: June 2, 2008 - View or Post a Eulogy
From the USMA 1951
50th reunion book:
Soon after my retirement in 1980, a friend introduced me to his civic club. He mentioned that I grew up here in Knoxville, attended The University ofTennesse went to West Point, flew fighters in Korea and Vietnam ...Then he paused, reflected, and said, "Come to think of it, we haven't won a war since Bacon's been in the service." So much for my combat experience. (The comedian, a cousin, got two purple hearts in Korea.)
After Korea, I flew a lot and made many friends at Moody AFB in Valdosta, GA; got an MA in English at The University of Southern California; and taught an trained Air ForceAcademy cadets. Back in operations after Air Command and Staff College, I flew F-100's out of Lakenheath, England for three years, with a lot of deployments to North Africa, Italy and Turkey. In Vietnam I commanded a detachment (Misty) of volunteer pilots who flew into North Vietnam seeking and spotting targets for attack fighters. I was a 7th Air Force Headquarters near Saigon the last half of my Southeast Asia tour.
After the Pentagon (in the Under Secretary of the Air Force's office) and Natiqnal War College (one year as a student, one a faculty member), I was vice commander at Luke AFB, Arizona. Then I commanded the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing (F-4s) near Homestead, Florida. It was the highlight of my career. After three years at Tactical Air Command headquarters Hampton, Virginia, I concluded military service in Key West in a Caribbean contingency planning group. There I stood on the dock and welcomed thousands of Mariel boatlifters. It was time to retire.
My civilian jobs were interesting, but not earth-shakers. I even studied journalism, hoping to learn how the journalistic mentality is developed. My busiest and briefest job was superintendent of Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon Tennessee. Both daughters graduated from the University of Tennessee, and I was able to be with my mother her last ten years. The decision to come home after three and a half decades proved to be a good one. My wife Bette died suddenly in 1992. She was a loving mother of four and a vital part of my life for 33 years.
At a West Pointer's birthday party, I met an alluring widow named Joyce Smith. I wooed her fervently, and in 1994 we were married. Joyce has four sons and seven grandchildren. My four children (Chip, Tim, Kate and Betsy) have eight children.
BG Bacon II served in many local military organizations, was a founding member of the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial Association, and was a former board member and a member at large of the Ramsey Family Swan Pond Association.
He is survived by his wife, Joyce Phelan Bacon and children, George, Timothy, Catherine and Elizabeth.
