Salute!
Sorry, but a classmate of mine was most likely the last USAF aviator to retire from the military - June of 2004. Maybe a nasal radiator went later, but I'll go with Ed. His bio counts the 4 years at the Academy and those do not count for retirement years of service or pay. So he had to go when her reached 62, eighteen years ago. On the PBS TV special "Return With Honor" from the 90's, he gives a great war story. His backseater was another classmate and calmly "advised" him the plane wouild not recover and they punched out. As I posted on another thread about "callsigns", our class had the most POW's from USAFA, so we are familiar with the count.
Ed's claim to fame and what we are most proud of is his last flight when he flew some "remains" back from Hanoi years just a week or two before retiring.
https://www.deseret.com/2004/7/1/198...am-pow-retires
Gums sends...