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John Edward Arnet

No. 19897 19 February 1931 - 2 April 2009

Died: Canaan, CT

Interred: West Point Cemetery, West Point, NY

 

John Edward “Jack” Arnet was born in Ypsilanti, MI, to Edward and Florence Arnet and had an older sister Betty. His parents decided to call him “Jack,” and that is how he was known from his schooldays through college. He attended Roosevelt School K–12 and graduated with the Class of 1949. Jack was an active member of the Boy Scouts and spent many summers as a counselor. In high school he was a diver on the swim team, ran track and field, and was quarterback and captain of the football team. He served as an acolyte at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and was a member of Young Peoples Fellowship. There he met and maintained a friendship with Sherrill McElroy, also a member of the church, who later became Mrs. Arnet. Sherrill’s mother taught Jack to fly while in high school. When he earned his private pilot license, Sherrill was his first passenger.

 

Jack received a Congressional appointment to West Point. In preparation, he attended Michigan State Normal College for one year. He then joined the Long Gray Line as a member of the Class of 1954. He was assigned to Company L-1, and there began many lifelong friendships. He was great fun to be around with his great sense of humor, often challenging you with, “Why would you want to do that?” and then breaking out in a big grin. At West Point, Jack played football, ran track, played hockey, and was a member of the debate council, skeet club and pistol club. When Jack was not involved with academics, he could be found walking the area. At graduation he chose the Air Force as his branch of service and long time girlfriend Sherrill as his bride. Jack and Sherrill were married in the Cadet Chapel the day after graduation, 9 Jun 1954.

 

The second lieutenant and his bride headed for Hondo, TX, and the first phase of pilot training in the T-6. Next they were off to Greenville, MS, for another six months of training. Their first son, Peter, was born just before leaving for Little Rock, AR, and the Strategic Air Command. Jack was next assigned to Wichita, KS, for training in the B-47 Stratojet and then returned to Little Rock. While serving with a select crew, he had tours of duty in England and Spain. Back in Little Rock, their second son, Paul, joined the family. In the fall of 1959, Jack entered the University of Texas in Austin and earned a master’s degree in science while keeping up his flying commitment at Bergstrom AFB. Upon graduation in June 1961, Jack was assigned as an instructor in the Chemistry Department at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. Daughter Julie was born that November, in the midst of a major snowstorm, to complete the family.

 

An accompanied tour to Naha AFB, Okinawa, began in November 1965. During this tour Jack flew C-130 Hercules aircraft for the Military Airlift Command, including temporary duty assignments to Thailand and Vietnam. He earned his parachute jump wings at Kadena AFB, Okinawa. In the summer of 1968, the family relocated to California while Jack spent a year in Vietnam at Tan Son Nhut AFB as a Special Forces liaison advisor and flew missions as a forward air controller in the O-1 “Bird Dog” aircraft. While there, another classmate recalls Jack giving him a base tour in Jack’s personal jeep, received as a gift from a pilot returning to the states. Jack earned the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star Medal, and three awards of the Air Medal. He returned with his family to the Air Force Academy in 1969 and served in the Dean’s office while also training cadets in flight instruction until his retirement in 1974.

 

He then accepted a position at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY, as associate academic dean and athletic director for ten years. While there he earned a master’s degree in business administration from Adelphi University. In 1984, Jack accepted a position with the State of Connecticut Technical College System and rose to the position of president of Hartford State Technical College before his final retirement.

 

Jack and Sherrill owned and operated Parish Hill Orchard in Chaplin, CT, from 1980 until 2003. Here they enjoyed the farm with their children and grandchildren, who they considered their greatest blessing. Jack’s family remembers him as the number one supporter of all their activities. He was an outdoorsman who taught them hunting, fishing, and camping. With this in mind, the family built a mountain house near Breckinridge, CO, which became the family get-away.

 

In his later years, Jack developed Parkinson’s Disease and then cervical and lumbar stenosis. This robbed him of his articulate speech and most motor skills. He went through this period with the amazing strength and dignity that had characterized him throughout his life. He often said “Every problem that presents itself, every challenge one faces in life … is just another opportunity in which to excel.” Jack did excel, in service to his country and community, and love for his family. Well done, Jack.

 

The Arnet family now continues their life’s mission, flying without him in their own “Missing Man” formation.

 

Originally published in TAPS, SPRING / SUMMER 2010

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