Ron Wall
|
Last Updated: |
|
May 6, 2010 |
|
Residing In: |
|
Eleven miles from the closest city, Florence, AZ, AZ USA |
|
Spouse/Partner: |
|
Carolyn Sue Whitsett |
|
Occupation: |
|
MSgt. USAF Ret.; IBM Computer Programmer/Analyst |
|
Children: |
|
Bruce Edward, born 1965; Tonya Michelle, born 1968 |
|
Comments: |
|
I attended business college in Oklahoma City in 60-61 and returned to Sharon Center in the summer of 1961. Enlisted in the Air Force in Cleveland in the fall of that year and was sent to Lackland AFB for basic training, then San Angelo AFB in Texas for Intelligence school. I met my wife to be in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1962 while on leave before being sent to remote northern Japan for my first overseas tour. The first time I was issued a loaded weapon was during the Cuban Missile crisis (our base was only 30 miles across the La Perusa Straights from the Soviet Union). Returned to the States on the day President Kennedy was assassinated; I learned the news while at a restaurant in Sacramento, Calif. I married Carolyn Sue Whitsett that December in Fort Smith, Arkansas. We were station at Kelly AFB in San Antonio until I was shipped to the Philippines and Thailand during the Vietnam War. Returned to Brooks AFB, San Antonio in 1967 (the second time I was issued a loaded weapon, a .45 cal side arm, when I acted as a courier for classified material from Bangkok to the U.S.) assigned to San Vito Air Station in Italy 1970-1973; spent the next three years at the National Security Agency, Fort Meade, MD. In 1976 I was assigned to the Greek island of Crete. I was assigned back to the NSA in 1978 and retired from the Air Force there in 1981.
I went to work for the State of Arizona in 1981 as a computer programmer and then for Prudential in Phoenix, and finally IBM. Retired from IBM in New Jersey in 1999; returned to Arkansas for five years and returned to Arizona in 2003 where we purchased a house and some land. I now maintain web sites, raise chickens and two horses, not to mention two dogs and a cat. My son lives near Nashville and maintains websites for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshal Tucker Band and several southern Rock stars. My daughter works in social services in Fairmont, W.Va. We have three grandsons and six granddaughters. |
|
School Story: |
|
I grew up in Sharon Center. In the summer of 1959 I was sent to live with my mother and grandparents in Van Buren, Arkansas (brother Art and I were raised by our grandfather and grandmother Wall and our aunt Clara (Wall) Bridgman in Sharon). I was extremely disappointed that I did not get to graduate with my class of 1960 at Highland. I did graduate from Van Buren High School, Van Buren, Arkansas. I attended a business college in Oklahoma City in 1960-61. |
|
Military Service: |
|
U. S. Air Force  |
Ronald (Ron) Wall, 1959 Highland High School
Dec. 1958 me on the right, little brother Mike next to me and brother Art on the left, Spruce Run near my grandfather Wall's farm on Hatch Rd. in Sharon Center.
1963, Wakkanai Air Base, northern Japan
Me, my son Bruce age three and daughter Tonya age four months, 1968 Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
My lovely wife Carolyn Sue (Whitsett) with my son and daughter, Brooks AFB, San Antonio, TX, 1968
1972 San Vito Air Base near Brindisi, Italy
My son Bruce, San Diego, California 1983
Daughter Tonya, son Bruce and wife Sue, San Diego, 1983
Birthday helicopter ride arranged by my daughter Tonya (with grandsons Daniel and Jeremy), Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona 1995
Me (left) and friend at Weaver's Needle in the Superstition Mountain wilderness area near Apache Junction, Arizona 1996
Superstition Wilderness Area, Weaver's Needle. Supposedly the Lost Dutchman Mine is somewhere within the shadow of the needle. Good luck hunting for it.
October 2009 on my "ranch" near Florence, Arizona with my buddies Cinnamon and Dollar
Our little dog Tara Sue, named by our grand kids after their grandma who is a big fan of Gone With The Wind. October 2009
This is Mocha, a thoroughbred mare I adopted from animal rescue. When I first met Mocha she was a pitiful sight. She had been nearly starved to death by her previous owner. She is now back to normal after an increased feeding program and the help and advice of friend "KJ" Koch (see http://www.kjshorsemanship.com)
May 2, 2010, this was on a trail ride of about five miles on the Bulldog Canyon trail in the Goldfield Mountains north of Mesa, Arizona. The trail head is at Usery Pass and ends at the Salt River on a portion of the river that is a favorite tubing and canoeing spot. I learned a few days later that a young teenage girl drowned on this day not far from this spot. She fell off her inner tube and was swept away by the current. It was a sad note to an otherwise perfect day.
I'm holding Cinnamon, a mustang belonging to my neighbor. We are at the end of the Bulldog Canyon trail in a salt cedar groove on the bank of the Salt River. My mount is the quarter horse behind me. He is a gelding named Dollar.
Classmate Comments:
Note: Classmate comments can be viewed by all Classmates. If you wish to send Ron Wall a private message, please use the private message box above.
|
