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06/17/07
Col. John Vloet Died June 17, 2007
John Vloet, Colonel, USAF (Retired), 61, suffered a heart-attack on Saturday, 16 June 2007 and died the following day at Fairfax Hospital. His wife Maureen is at home in Fairfax, VA with family members present.
Services and funeral arrangements:
Thursday, 21 June 2007: Viewing from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM with a Rosary at 7:00 PM; Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home, Fairfax Memorial Park, 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22032 (703-425-9702).
Friday, 22 June 2007: Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM; St. Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church, 5222 Sideburn Road, Fairfax, VA 22032 (703-978-4141).
Wednesday, 22 August 2007: Interment at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.
NFI at this time concerning flowers or donations in lieu of flowers.
03/05/2007
Col. John R. Neil Died March 5, 2007
John was the commander of the 6940th Security Wing.
12/13/05
Col. John Earl Rothrock Jr. Died November 25, 2005
ROTHROCK, JOHN EARL, JR.On November 25, 2005, COL. JOHN EARL ROTHROCK, JR., USAF (Ret.), beloved fiance of Mary Lu Mueller Greenwood. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, December 27 at 11 a.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church (1108 Providence Rd , Towson, MD 21286) Please omit flowers. Contributions in hismemory may be made to the Salvation Army, 814 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21230. Arrangements by the family owned MITCHELL-WIEDEFELD FUNERAL HOME, INC.
Published in The Washington Post on 11/30/2005.
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09/12/05
Bob Base Died July 8, 2005
Bob passed away July 8th, 2005, he had cancer. He fought long and hard, and he lost the battle. His funeral will be September 21st, at 2:30, Arlington National cemetery, with full military honors. He leaves his wife, Barbara, of 52 1/2 years, two Sons and two Grandsons.
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11/25/03
Tribute to John Diesem
From an email by Carol Bessette, Tuesday, November 25, 2003
Well, it was a good day for it (if there is such a thing). . . sunny and cold, but eerily reminiscent of the same weather 40 years ago today. No one but John (Bessette) and me had made the connection that 40 years earlier on this date, almost to the hour, was the JFK funeral. I think John Diesem would have liked the sense of connection.
John and I were the only ones present from our mutually shared stage of John's life. . .and we both snorted when the chaplain talked about John's military service starting in 1971. (I assume someone found that date as the beginning of his AF Reserve time.)
There were about 30 people there. The plot is in an interesting place. We arrived early at the building where the families and friends gather. . .and sat in the parking lot, watching the workers arrange chairs in an area directly ahead of us, about 50 feet from the parking lot where the mourners park when they "gather." And it turned out that we were watching them set up for John's plot. That was where he is buried.
The ceremony was, as usual, very moving. Someone said later that it was too bad that John did not have a flyby, but he did. . .he's right under the flight path for Reagan National Airport.
We were invited afterward to lunch at the Army Navy Club (the one downtown), so we joined the relatives there, and it was like no other post-funeral "celebration" I have ever experienced. We truly did "celebrate" his life.
One man who had worked with Kathy in NYC when she met John in the mid-70s started with a very wonderful story about how John forced the NY Athletic Club to open its doors to the "kind of people" they had not admitted in the past. It said a great deal about John.
Then I stood up and talked about how I had known him longer than anyone there except his relatives, and he and I had driven to Ramstein on a TDY. .and I alluded to the fact that I couldn't stand this guy, but was imprisoned in a VW bug with him for several hours each way. To keep conversation going, I asked about his pipe and got an hour-long dissertation on pipes and how to draw on a pipe and why you tap the tobacco down, etc. It's a dumb story, but it is a strong memory of mine.
Then people started talking, lots of stories, about how we all had received "dissertations" on various subjects. Lots of neat stories … lots of laughter. Even jokes and laughter about brain tumors, which sound ghoulish, but which were appropriate at the time. It was the closest I will probably ever be to an Irish wake. It truly was a "celebration." May we all be so fortunate to have people celebrate our lives in a similar fashion.
At the end of the day, I am very glad I knew John Diesem, and I just wish that John and I had had more time with him over the years.
From Desi Arnaiz:
John worked with me in Vietnam. He was a great person and officer. He was incorruptible. A perfect person to know.
I am enjoying hearing and sharing tales about John. Mine is a simple one: during Tet, while we were getting shot up pretty badly, I sent John to go get some food from the chow hall. I gave him a helmet, flak jacket and rounds of ammo and sent him on his way. Sometime later he came back covered with mud from his nose to his toes. He told me he couldn't make it to the chow hall because the bad guys were trying to kill him. I wished I had a camera or a video cam to record the incident. At the time, it wasn't funny. But it was priceless. (We later engineered a case of C-rats.)
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10/14/03
Col. Roy Jonkers Died October 14, 2003
The family is making plans for a mid-November funeral at Arlington Cemetery. Notes of condolence for his family-two sons, a daughter, and grandchildren-can be sent to:
C/O AFIO HQ
6723 Whittier Avenue Suite 303A
McLean, VA 22101
Roy's wife of many years, Vilma, died on September 18th.
Washington Post Obituary
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10/13/03
Col. Charlie Hoy Died October 13, 2003
Col. Hoy, who served on the NRO staff and was a friend of the 67th, died of heart failure Monday night. He will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery at 1100 hours on January 5, 2004.
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10/8/03
Major General Ratkovich died Wednesday, October 8th.
He is survived by his wife Priska. He retired in 1975 as Director of Intelligence (J-2), US Headquarters, European Command, Stuttgart, Germany.
You may contact Priska at: 1030 Delf Dr., McLean, Virginia 22101.
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07/09/02
Col. Gus Planchon Dies
We regret to announce the passing of Col. Gus Planchon. Gus was great and well know in his field of intel. We all will miss him. He was killed in a truly freak accident. He was operating a backhoe at his place in Arizona when the arm inadvertently malfunctioned and crushed him to death instantly.
He will be buried in Arlington on 18 July at 1100 with a graveside ceremony. The funeral procession will depart from the Cemetery Administrative Bldg at 1030. We hope as many friends as possible will attend. We look forward to seeing you all there.
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