15 JAN. 2012: names added to this large group.
• James P. Hargis, died Dec. 1974, age ?, at city not known.
  I am pretty sure I replaced him at Ascension Telemetry back in late 1971, we only knew each other for a few short weeks while he explained his duties which I was to take over. Unfortunately he only lived a few more years before he died at a young age.
  Does anyone know how Hargis died?
• James P. John, died Jul. 1983, age ?, at city not known.
• Grady W. Jones, died 05 Jan. 1995, age ?, at Jacksonville FL.
  The name Grady Jones, rings a bell in my mind, I may have worked with him on tracking ship "Golf", who knew Jones and who can confirm he worked on ships?
• Robert E. Larson, died 14 Jan. 2008, age ?, at Oklahoma City OK
• Bob L. Rouse, died 19 May 2008, age ?, at Miami FL.
  Rouse was, I think from Nicaragua, and I knew him from GTK and ASC. I think he worked in communications, he was my next door roomie at ASC, and really had a muscular build. Who else knew Bob and exactly what section did he work?
• Alfred D. Rowlett, died 08 Jan. 2003, age ?, at Palm Bay FL.
• Joseph F. Smith, died 14 Mar. 1995, age ?, at Cocoa Beach FL.
  I (your RR editor) remember Joe Smith was a clerk for the IM at either GTK or GBI, or both stations. Who can confirm this and add more info. about Joe?
• I dont know all of these fellows listed above, but someone out there does, if you knew any of these RR's listed above, share your info. on how you knew them, what stations they worked and approx. what time period, etc. etc.
03 JAN. 2009, names added to this large group
• Joe H. Chestnutt, died 14 Dec. 1991, age 82, at Chattanooga TN
  (I do remember Joe, he was a stamp collector, who worked on Ascension Island.)
  UPDATE 23 APR. 2009: John Gladden emailed me this info on Joe: " I knew Joe at Mahe when I was there from late 1970 until June of 1972. Joe was the Pan Am Motor Pool Foreman while I was there. I remember him as being quite affable.
• Thomas S. Campbell, died 18 Jul. 1980, age 42, at Merritt Is. FL
• John D. Cartlidge, died 11 Aug. 2005, age 67, at Malakoff TX
• John H. Cave, died 13 May 2002 age 74 at Houston TX
• Clyde W. Cato, died 03 Mar. 2008, age 67 at Okeechobee FL
  (Clyde was an RCA clerk at Ascension, I personally knew him when i was there in 1971-2). Clyde's obituary can be found at this Kwaj page, click here and scroll down the page. From his obit it tells that he was in the Army and served a tour of duty in Korea. He later spent many years in the South Pacific working for RCA – Range Systems, Lockhead Martin and Raytheon Engineering where he retired. However his obit left out that he also worked on Atlantic side too: the Eastern Test Range, thats where I knew him from.
• Joseph L. Collins, died 20 May. 2003, age 64, at Sebastian FL
  (I worked with Joe in Telemetry at GBI in the 1960s, his death was reported earlier on this page but then I did not know the date he died, where he died and his age at death).
• Ralph N. Cron, died 2009 Aug. 1999 age 87 at Pharr TX
  (Ralph and I first met at St. Lucia in 1956, & shared an adjoining barracks room for a few months. I don't know what he did at St. Lucia, we used to do a lot of hiking on that island with George Fritz, one big hike was up Little Piton mountain. We both got transferred to Grand Turk and he worked in Timing there. After he left the range we kept in touch for a good many years then he went into a nursing home in Pharr TX & thats when I lost contact with him, I considered him a good friend, he too was a stamp collector like myself).
• William "Bill" J. Cipulis, died 12 Jul. 1999, age 84 at Enfield CT
  (I personally knew "Czip" when I went to work at Telemetry in 1971 at Ascension, look for more info. on " Czipulis " at one of the May 2005 entries below), [I am pretty sure thats how he spelled his name when i knew him at Asc].


21 DEC. 2008, names added to this large group.
• Frank J. Blatnik, died May 1995, age 75, at Riverview FL
• Bobby H. Boulineau, died 12 Jan. 2001, age 65, at Middleburg FL
• James Brady, died 15 Aug. 2003, age 81, at Brick NJ
• Johnny C. Brown, died 27 Apr. 1997, age 55 at Jacksonville FL.
  (I do remember Johnny who was our RCA clerk at GBI and later at ASC).
• Harry E. Brownlee, died 22 Feb. 2000, age 62 at Tallahassee FL


01 Sept. 2008, names added to this large group.
• Jack M. Ake, died 17 Aug 2004, age 86, at Daytona Beach FL
• Fred W. Arnold, died 11 May 2007, age 74, at Richmond VA
• Richard Beben, died May 1987, age 56, at Biloxi MS
• Valentine Bee, died Jan. 1985, age 61, at Cocoa Beach FL
• Alvin Blakely, died June 1981, age 42, place of death unknown

John Gladden also wrote: "Joe, Jim worked in Telemetry and I met him and his wife on Antigua in 1974 and we became good friends. I saw them frequently around Satellite Beach until Jim was overcome with cancer and I was fighting my own battle with it in the late 1990s. I just received word that Elaine has now also passed on."

• 1. First I had published a picture of Wilton "Woody" Bozardt on the USNS Gen. H. H. Arnold fan page of FACEBOOK. It was taken from a group picture of Arnold troops dated Winter 1980/81 provided by Gloria Makowski.
• 2. I next published Woody's wedding picture from your site.
• 3. Your site also mentioned that Woody had died while serving on a ship. I asked if anyone knew if Woody was assigned to the Arnold at the time of his death.
• 4. Wayne Holden replied as follows: " He was Ships manager for a short period that unfortunately ended with his death. We had just left Japan where we had our annual yard work and were headed for Singapore to support the first Shuttle launch when he died. We pulled into Subic Bay to let him off. That was most likely in January or early February 1981. (signed) Wayne Holden, Arnold 1974-82"
• 5. I asked for more info and Wayne elucidated: "...as I recall it was a massive coronary, a flash message had came in during the night and the communications center called his state room and did not get an answer. They searched around the lounge areas and the office and when they could not find him they woke up the Maintenance Manager and he got a master key and opened the state room and found him on the floor. He was probably trying to answer the phone."
• Hope this helps with filling out the histories of a long-term and remarkable Rat. (Thanks Bill for all the info. you have provided!).

Bob passed away from cancer on Sunday, 03 April 2011, in Pensacola, FL. at the age of 77. He was born and raised in Florida and was a pioneer in the aerospace industry, beginning his career with Pan Am in 1956, working at the Air Force ETR, at Patrick AFB FL, and on tracking ships that traversed the Atlantic Ocean for missile/space vehicle tracking and recovery. Later, Bob worked at Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center for Pan Am as Superintendent, Range Scheduling for the Eastern Test Range. In 1970, he moved to Lompoc, CA, and worked for ITT/FEC at Vandenberg AFB until retiring and going to work for NASA/ Caltech-JPL in Pasadena, CA. After retiring from JPL in 2000, they lived in Destin, FL, for several years before moving back to Crestview, FL. Memorial services were held in Fort Walton Beach, FL, on April 23, 2011.

"Working on the Range during the period I was there was like no other place or time that I can think of. It was the people that made it. We still know and keep in touch with a lot of our friends from those days...what great memories !!!"

• Ken Waltz from GBI and PAFB, who departed a few years back. He had a one of a kind collection of lightning stones (in the old days the Bahamians kept one in their ceiling to protect them from a bolt out of the blue, they were jade looking & smooth)
Richard "Seaweed" Saville, from GBI (he was Fred's business partner), he died about 5 years ago, Fred says from too much island punch! (Editors note: I believe he was also called "Rick" Saville, as he was on GBI same time I was there).
• Chuck Mullins, another GBI "wire room" friend, who many years back went to live on the FL west coast with his brother.

• IN SEPT. 2009 I REPORTED THIS: Tom McCarthy wrote me in June '09 that the name that Elliot reported as Paul Lejuare (of which Elliot wasn't sure of the spelling) is most likely spelled Paul Leger who was Manager of Trinidad Radar as he recalls. Tom further writes that it seems like Paul was actually up range, but the Trinidad Radar was his responsibility and that Paul was a Canadian therefore the French name, which was pronounced 'Le ghere.
• 16 OCT 2010: ADDITIONAL INFO RECEIVED
In Nov. '09 I heard from Fred Perkins who wrote this: "Was just looking over the updates of range rat deaths on your site. In your update dated 06 March 2009 you mention Paul Leger. He was variously described as Manager of Trinidad Radar and a Pan Am Base Accountant. Paul was neither. However, he was RCA Manager of D/R Instrumentation in the late 60s. He was my boss when I worked as IM at Grand Turk and Pretoria in 67 and 68. He came to MTP from the BMEWS Project, where he had worked I believe as an engineering manager. He was a great guy to work for, and traveled a lot downrange, although he never was actually stationed downrange. He died of a heart attack around 1970 I believe, although I'm not sure of the year."

• "He arrived at Ascension as an ABOM when I was running the Weather station there in 1960 . When Alan Shepard landed at GBI in May 1961 we had a very busy three days. Stan Monfette was acting Base Manager, and Wally was sent in to help out (I was Wx Station boss, but was pressed into service to help keep the news media in check). In November 1963 Wally was Base Manager at Antigua. I was an ABOM at GBI and was sent TDY to provide vacation relief for Wally. He left Pan Am in 1968 and went to work for Ford Aerospace in Mountain View California. I visited him there while on vacation. In later years I heard stories about his adventures in Viet Nam and Thule Greenland. The dust never settled when Wally was round."
• Thanks Jim for this interesting piece on Wally.

"Oathel Vernon Bonsall of Rockledge FL was 78. A loving husband, wonderful father, community activist and a retired engineer, passed away Friday 26 March 2010 at Wuesthoff Hospice. He was born in Santanta, Kansas. He served two years in the U.S. Army Signal Corp before moving to Puerto Rico and meeting the love of his life Awilda Bonsall. The family moved to Merritt Island in 1965 where he continued to work for RCA for 37 years. He and the Bonsall family were founding members of Divine Mercy Catholic Church. He served as a volunteer at Cape Canaveral Hospital Auxiliary, Boy Scouts of America Adult Leader, Docent at the Air Force Museum Cape Canaveral."

• Paul Leger
  UPDATE 16 OCT 2010: Information about Paul Leger has been moved to the 16 OCT 2010 entry near the top of the page as a seperate entry as it was confusing the way I had reported it here in this section because of two RRs who were named Paul.
• Jim Mershon
  
• Paul Buyers
• UPDATE 16 OCT. 2010: UPDATE 23 APR. 2009: John Gladden wrote a few days after I posted this info, and said: "I knew Paul Buyers at GBI in 1969 when Thor Tessem was BOM and Dave Avseck was Admin Supt. Paul was the Base Accountant and did my local purchase for me in Freeport to support the Supply operation. That was forty years ago, but seems like only a few months."
  UPDATE 17 JUNE 2009: In MAR 09 Jim Edwards wrote me that Paul Buyers was the Pan Am Base Accountant at GBI for many years, retiring about 1981. Jim didn't think he worked at any other downrange bases. His replacement at GBI was Gladys (Wey) Singleton, and she died about 10 years ago.