Charles Logan Flynn

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by John Hotchkiss on September 27, 2012:

Charlie and I were K-2 roommates First Class year and we both went Air Force. Our first assignment was to Primary Flight School in Mission, Texas where we lived in adjoined apartments with our new wives Jerra and Rita - sharing a bedroom wall! We separated after graduating and didn't hook up again until we were both in the D.C. area in the '80s. Charlie flew TAC F-4s and I flew ADC F-86D/Ls and F-102s. Jerra and I were able to socialize with Charlie and Rita during his last assignments and attended his retirement ceremony in Annapolis where Dale Ward officiated. Charlie retired to Flagstaff, Arizona and was an instructor at Embry-Riddle - he enjoyed telling war-stories to his students! All through the passing years Charlie and I kept contact. Charlie was a genial good man, faithful to West Point's motto and his family. Cancer killed him, and I often wonder whether his stay at Eglin AFB testing the defoliant Agent Orange was causative. Rita described to me how Charlie would come home after Agent Orange testing with his flight suit soaked with the stuff and Rita washed it out each evening. I loved Charlie as a brother - no finer man have I ever met. If there is an after-life, Charlie was waved through the gate with a "Well done".

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