Paul Butalla:  

First off, I'm sorry to have missed the recent reunion, but a couple of recent surgeries made it imprudent to travel. I hope everyone had fun! After graduating from Lawrence Central High School in 1971 I entered the United States Air Force Academy on the 5th of July 71 along with fellow LCHS classmate Bruce Correll. Although it was not the smoothest of journeys I manage to graduate on time, (which at times seemed improbable) with the class of 1975 on the 4th of June 75 with a BS in General Studies, a degree which has served me well over the years. I went to USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training at Columbus, MS, and then entered the fighter world in the Air Force. Over a 24 year career I flew 5 different fighter aircraft (F-4, A-10, A-7, F-15, F-117) at multiple AF bases around the world, and served on two different command staffs in non-flying jobs. Best job and career I could ever have imagined, working around the world with dedicated world-class aviators and other professionals, all warriors supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic along with defending the US and it's interests. When I was in pilot training in 75 I had the extreme good fortune of meeting my wife Christine on Christmas break at a friend's house while skiing in Colorado. We were married less than a year after meeting in September 76 and she has been my partner in everything that's happened since. We have two amazing daughters, Sara Louise and Amy Christine who are both married and self sufficient humans, and unfortunately we don't get to see as much of them as we'd like. Over the course of our 24 years in the AF we were stationed here in Tucson for 12 years, which is unusual for almost any military career, so when I retired from the AF on the 1st of February 1999 we stayed put here. In December that year I was hired at American Airlines. I started out as a Flight Engineer on the B-727, then progressed thro...Expand for more