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 Bruce M. Carson
CARSON, Bruce McEachern, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret) Lt. Col. Bruce M. Carson, 58, of Lake Anna, Virginia, died suddenly at his home on Saturday, September 13, 2008. He was born on March 16, 1950 in Kentfield, California to the late Lt. Col. John Paul Carson Jr. and Jean Eleanor (McEachern) Carson Bailey of San Antonio, TX. He married JoAnn (Brinkman) Carson daughter of James Brinkman and Genevieve Healey Brinkman in Houston, Texas on March 16, 1974. Bruce was a military veteran of the Cold War, and proudly served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in September 1997. He graduated from the University of Houston in 1974 where he was awarded a BS Degree in Electrical Engineering. He joined the U.S. Air Force in March of 1976 and upon graduation from the USAF Officer Training School was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He qualified first as an Air Force Navigator and later as an Electronic Warfare Reconnaissance Systems Officer. Later assignments included distinguished service with the Strategic Air Command: 24th SRS, Eielson AFB, Alaska; 55th SRW, Offutt AFB, Nebraska and as Program Manager, Riverside Research Institute at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. He dedicated his life to the service of his country. While serving as an aircrew member during a Cold War RC-135C mission, he participated in the rescue efforts of the U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft AFLA FOXTROT 586 which crashed on October 26, 1978 off Kamchatka Peninsula in the North Pacific during a sensitive mission. A propeller malfunction caused a fire forcing the pilot Lt. Cdr. Jerry Carson Grigsby to ditch his patrol plane into the empty, mountainous seas west of the Aleutian Islands. Three of the fourteen souls aboard the Orion were killed, including the pilot Lt. Cdr. Grisby. The RC-135C was the first aircraft to spot the Navy rafts and circled at a very low altitude to mark their position. Later the pilot of the RC-135 would climb for fuel conservation, but remained generally overhead the Search and Rescue site to relay communications between aircraft on station and Headquarters in Alaska, the continental US and Japan. Later, Bruce survived a plane crash of his own on March 15, 1981. The reconnaissance aircraft RC-135B #61-2664 code named Cobra Ball, in which he was a crewmember, crashed short of the runway in a blinding snowstorm on Shemya Island in the Aleutian Island chain off Alaska. Six of the twenty-four souls aboard were killed. His personal awards and decorations include: Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal w/ 3 OLCs, Air Medal w/ 7 OLCs, USAF Commendation Medal and other awards. He was noted for his quick wit and keen sense of humor. He is survived by his wife JoAnn of Lake Anna, VA; daughter Kelly Jean (Carson) Olson and husband Ryan; grandson Jack Ryan Olson of Woodbridge, VA; son James Thomas Carson, Louisville, KY; mother Mrs. Jean (McEachern) Carson Bailey, of San Antonio, TX; brother John Paul Carson III (Lt. Col. USAF Ret) and wife Sonya (Newsom) Carson (Major, USAF Ret) of San Antonio, TX; brother Scott Crumley Carson (Lt. Col., USMCR Ret) of Old Saybrook, CT; nephew Major John Paul Carson IV, US Army and wife Annie of Heidelberg, Germany; nephew Captain Jeffery Scott Carson, US Army, Bluffton, SC; uncle David D. Carson and wife Joann of Blair, OK; great nephews John Paul Carson V and Jack Vincent Carson of Heidelberg, Germany; great niece Maddisen Jade Carson of Heidelberg, Germany. He was preceded in death by his father Lt. Col. John Paul Carson Jr, (USAF Ret) and second Dad Colonel Gayle Bailey, (USAF, Ret); grandparents John Paul Carson Sr. (Major, USAF Ret) and wife Gladys; Joseph H. McEachern and wife Ethyl. The family will receive friends during an informal remembrance gathering The Carson Farewell on Saturday, September 27, 2008 at Sine Restaurant on Pentagon Row in Arlington, VA beginning at 3:00 pm. Burial will take place in a private ceremony at Lake Anna, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces in tribute to Lt. Col. Bruce M. Carson: https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=330800834&df_id=1096&1096.donation=form1.

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