Page 2 - Marching Along - Winter 2013-14

Beta in the Sky at the time. Claudine was a sorority sister Force planes in the missing-man formation, of the girlfriend of the Beta who introduced and a 21-gun salute. The duty of the escort them and both girls were visiting Gainesville offcer is to travel with the remains to the when Doug and Claudine met. burial site, help make funeral arrangements, Doug’s frst post in the Air Force was as and attend to the needs of the families of a nuclear weapons offcer in Minot, North the servicemen. At one particularly moving moment during his Dad’s ceremony, Doug, Dakota. He actually convinced Claudine to visit him there, and recalled picking her up representing the United States government, presented the American fag to his mother at the airport in Bismarck in the middle of a blizzard. His second assignment was in and younger sister. After more than 25 years, these two American heroes had come home. Space Operations, fying satellites in Denver, Colorado. One morning while stationed Doug completed a 22-year career in the there in 1997, after ending his night shift, Air Force in 2011. His last assignment was he received a call at home from Air Force with the Special Operations Command at Mortuary Affairs. His Dad’s remains and MacDill Air Force Base. Today Doug is a those of the pilot, Captain Harris, had been Certifed Financial Planner and lives with located by a joint military US-Vietnamese his wife and children in Brandon, Florida. search and rescue team and were being So we shine our Alumni Spotlight on two transported home. He was asked if he would Betas, a father who paid the ultimate price like to serve as the escort offcer for their and the son who brought his dad home. Dennis holding Doug. return. Naturally he eagerly accepted this (Continued from Page 1) honor. He met the Air Force plane carrying Harris. They were fying a CAT mission – the two fallen warriors at Dover Air Force base in Dover, Delaware. He traveled with short for Combat Air Control. The purpose them to Arlington National Cemetery of these missions was to eliminate enemy where each was given a separate burial fghters and clear the way for U.S. Air Force with full military honors. This included bombers. Their plane was shot down by a being taken to the gravesite on a horse- MiG-19 over Vinh Phuc province, North drawn caisson, a fy-over of three Air Vietnam, on May 10th, 1972. It erupted in fames, exploded and crashed. No parachutes were sighted. Sadly neither aviator survived. The 1969 Pontiac Lemans. Doug grew up in Ft. Walton Beach where he was friends with fellow Betas ... the car Ed Thompson ’87 and Spike “ Thompson ’89. While at UF has a Doug not only followed in his Dad’s footsteps as a Beta, he certain also was in ROTC and was commissioned a Lieutenant sentimental in the United States Air value ... Force upon graduation. While in college another Beta had introduced him to “ the girl he would later marry, Claudine, who was a student at FSU The 1969 Pontiac Lemans Update omment about the historical group Cphoto published in the spring: John Dulaney ’52 & ’56 - “We were a zany bunch. I can remember when those pics were made. Hard to believe that it was 60 years ago. Where do the years go? The days at Gamma Xi were some of the best days of my life. Still keep up with some of the guys. Beta was one of the best things that have happened to John D. I am still proud to be a Beta. Thanks for sending the pics on. I still have one of the shots in my desk.” 2