The Aviation, Defense and Aerospace Issue

Editor:

Having had an uncle who headed the aerospace, mechanical and nuclear engineering programs at OU, it gives me enormous pride in seeing the university’s expansion of the aviation school. I know he would be extremely proud as well to see the university’s national leadership in this program. Sooner Pride is what I feel.

Larry Woodard

OU ’67 jour.

Little Rock, Ark.

Editor:  

Thank you for the excellent articles in Sooner Magazine regarding aviation and aerospace!  I enjoyed each article and was proud of yet another aspect of the University of Oklahoma.

I wanted to pass on my own experience as a crew member of the USS Boxer in February 1966, when we were the ship that picked up an early unmanned flight of the Apollo Space program near the equator in the Atlantic Ocean.  I was a crew member assigned to accompany news reporters around the ship, being certain that they safely got to intended destinations.  

It was a great learning experience for me as a young crew member and required learning a good deal about the Apollo program and the recovery mission. After finishing my tour in the Navy in April 1966, I returned to Oklahoma and enrolled at OU, graduating from the business college in 1971.  I went on to pursue a career in higher education and health care, eventually retiring in 2010 from Duke University and Health System as Vice President of Human Resources.  I am originally from El Reno, Oklahoma.

My wife, Ginna, and I are both alums of OU and recently helped recruit and sponsor a new freshman student at OU this fall, a freshman in Meteorology at the National Severe Storms Laboratory who is attending OU on a fully paid academic scholarship.  

Thank you for what you are doing.  

H. Clint Davidson

OU '71 BS mgmt.

Pinehurst, N.C.

Remembering Lavada

Editor: 

My mother, Lavada Jarboe Nacci, and her brother, Willis Jarboe, were born in Lexington, Okla., a small town south of Norman. They lived there until they moved to Norman so Mom and her brother could attend the University of Oklahoma. My uncle graduated in 1941 and my mom graduated in 1942.

Shortly after graduation, Mom started working for the U.S. Navy as a civilian employee at the Naval Air Station Norman, which is now Max Westheimer Airport. Following the end of WWII, Mom saw job openings for civilians and volunteered to go to Japan. This was quite a shock to her mother, especially since her son, Willis, had been killed in Italy in 1943 while serving in the U.S. Army.

In 1946, Mom left Norman and went to San Francisco, where she boarded a U.S. Army transport ship for the two-week trip to Japan. I am quite sure she had never been on a ship before!

She worked as a general clerk in HQ 8th Army. She met my father in the Tokyo Officers Club and they were married a year later in 1948. During her time in Japan, she met several military and civilian OU alumni. In October of 1949, these OU alumni formed the first Tokyo-Yokohama Area Chapter of the OU Alumni Association and she served as the vice president of the chapter. Mom and Dad boarded another troop ship on the day before Christmas 1949 and returned to Norman on Jan. 7, 1950.

As an Army wife, she had 16 more years of traveling the world. In 1966, Dad retired and we moved back to Norman. 

My mother was a loving and caring person, was a very engaged Army wife and wonderful mom to two boys who graduated from OU, and a devoted Sooner fan for life.

Brian Nacci, OU '72 BBA

Allen, Texas