Col, Alton Jens Thogersen, U.S. Air Force (retired)
died July 12, 2012, following a courageous battle with Parkinson’s
disease.
He was born in Sidney on Oct. 25, 1927, and was fortunate
to have experienced two unique and wonderful periods in his life.
Following graduation from high school in 1945, he served in the Navy
until the end of WW II. Due to the untimely death of his father, Al
returned home after the war to help his mother on the family farm.
He entered the University of North Dakota in 1948 on
a football scholarship, was voted All-Conference defensive wing as
a junior and served as co-captain his senior year. He also played
tight end on offense. Alton majored in commerce and was a member of
the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. In November of 1950,
he married Myrna Ann Lucke.
After college he was commissioned a second lieutenant
in the U.S. Air Force and dedicated himself to the service of his
country, wife and family. Alton and Myrna had two children, Lynn Marie
who was born while Alton was in pilot training in Bartow, Fla., and
Steve Alan who was born while he served in Korea. He graduated from
pilot training in 1952 and began his career as an Air Force pilot.
He flew the T-23, F-86, F-100 and F-4 during his 30 year career and
accumulated more than 4,000 hours of flying time. He flew 80 missions
in Korea and 100 in Viet Nam.
While in the Air Force several remarkable experiences
marked his service. In 1954 President Eisenhower promised NATO that
the United States would provide a nuclear presence in Europe. Al was
assigned to a new wing that flew 74 F-86 Fighter Jets from New Mexico
to Germany over the northern route. It took 47 hazardous days to complete
this mission.
While serving as a maintenance test pilot at Luke Air
Force Base in 1962, an F-100 jet he was flying for the first time
after maintenance caught fire. The canopy filled with smoke and Al
lost hydraulic control. The plane was headed toward downtown Phoenix.
Al chose to stay with the plane until he was able to use hand controls
and get the plane away from Phoenix and out to the desert. Al bailed
out at 800 feet and both he and the plane landed in a cotton field
west of Phoenix.
In 1975 while serving as Air Base Wing Commander at
Langley Air Force Base, Leonard Matlovich, a technical sergeant, announced
that he was gay. Because military policy concerning homosexuals was
very rigid, Matlovich was discharged. It was Col. Thogersen’s
responsibility to determine whether the discharge should be honorable
or dishonorable. Based on Matlovich’s exemplary military service
which included three tours of duty in Viet Nam, a Purple Heart and
Bronze Star, Col. Thogersen recommended an honorable discharge. The
ensuing media storm and controversy over the issue of homosexuals
serving in the military has continued over the past 30 years.
Al served as wing commander of the two Air Force bases
in Panama. During the critical time Canal negotiations were being
completed to return the Canal to the control of the Panamanians. In
addition, in 1978 he had responsibility for removing the bodies after
the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana.
He received numerous military decorations including
the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with seven
oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak
leaf cluster.
After retirement, he and Myrna moved to Phoenix where
he worked one year as the recreation director for Sun City East. Subsequently
he was hired by Northrup Aviation to work in Saudi Arabia as an advisor
to the Saudi Air Force. After three years he returned to Tucson, Ariz.,
in 1984. His wife, Myrna died in 1987, and so came the close of the
first period of his life.
In 1990 his life began anew when he married Mary Edith
(Edy) Anderson. Edy had three children from her first marriage and
the two families joined with love and harmony. Edy and Al soon discovered
they had an additional common bond. Her involvement in property management
of the family farms and ranches in Sidney, Al’s home town, required
frequent trips to the area. These trips allowed Al to reconnect with
his friends and family roots in Sidney. Al and Edy have 12 grandchildren.
For 15 years they had the “best of both worlds.”
They spent winters in Tucson and summers in their log home at Cooper
Lake. They moved to Splendido, a Continuing Care Community in Oro
Valley in 2006, after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Al is survived by his wife Edy; his children Lynn Thogersen
and Steve Thogersen; his stepchildren Leslie Russell and Steven Anderson;
grandchildren Mika Harris, Steven Voith, Katie Russell, Brian Russell,
Knox Anderson, Elizabeth Anderson, Catherine Anderson, Krista Thogersen,
George Anderson, Shane Thogersen, Ramey Bourland and Hugh Bourland;
sister Irene Nielsen; brother Harold Dean Thogersen; and many nieces
and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his first wife, Myrna Thogersen,
his stepson, Kyle Anderson and brother, Edward Thogersen.
https://www.sidneyherald.com/obituaries/alton-jens-thogersen/article_1ea7f35a-d349-11e1-beef-0019bb2963f4.html
