My great-uncle.

http://www.legacy.com/obituari...y.aspx?pid=181918599



Lieutenant Colonel Paul Glenn McClanahan 2/7/22-10/11/16

"Born in Arcola, Illinois, Paul was one of eleven children of Goldie and Clarence McClanahan, tenant farmers who later owned their own farm. Paul worked the fields alongside his father and siblings, but his gaze was often fixed on the sky. At age eighteen, he sold a colt he had raised to pay for a trip to Cincinnati, where he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, serving on the USS Texas patrolling the North Atlantic, and later training in the Marine Corps Glider Pilot School. Soon after, he completed the naval aviation training for heavier-than-air aircraft, and after receiving a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University, he began his career as a pilot.

Service in Korea and Vietnam earned Paul the Distinguished Flying Cross, among other honors, though he claimed that his greatest honor was winning the hand of Juanita Sanders, whom he married in 1945 and referred to as "a living doll." Their union produced seven children, six of whom survive: Jennifer Dicks (CA), Thomas McClanahan (CA), Rebecca McClanahan, Claudia Marcolese, Rick McClanahan, and Lana Rubright (all of NC). A daughter, Sylvia Sue, died in infancy.

Paul retired from the Marine Corps after 26 years of active duty, worked for several years in the Aeronutronic Division of Ford Motor Company, and then embarked on a career teaching high school math and physics in Brookston, Indiana, a move that relocated his family near his Midwestern roots. For many decades, Paul was active in the Baptist church, where he served as deacon and sang in the choir. His voice was a pure, clear tenor, and he never lost his love of music, often requesting "Shenandoah" and-no surprise-"I'll Fly Away." Paul's goals for his children, he once wrote, were "to find happiness in search of their goals, face defeats with dignity, treat all men kindly, and have a communicating relationship with God." These goals suggest the character of a man who leaves a rich legacy of service, generosity, and honor.

In addition to his wife Juanita and the six aforementioned children and their spouses, Paul's survivors include 16 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, five step-great-grandchildren, three sisters, and a host of friends and extended family members. Service with full military honors will be held at 2:00 on October 16 at Ellington Funeral Home in Charlotte, NC. The family will visit friends immediately following the service at the funeral home. At a later date, Lt. Col. Paul Glenn McClanahan will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery."

A great American and a true American story.

He obviously was a "Great" Uncle!

Thank you for sharing this story of such an elegant man.

Semper Fi!