Vermont Garrison  Vermont Garrison (October 29, 1915 – February 14, 1994) was a career officer in the United States Air Force, and a flying ace credited with 17.33 victories in aerial combat. He was one of only seven Americans to achieve ace status during World War II, then again against jet fighter opposition during the Korean War. In 1966, Garrison participated in his third war, as vice commander of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, and flew a full tour of bombing and fighter missions over North Vietnam. During all three of his combat tours, Garrison was consistently older than his peers, becoming an ace in World War II at the age of 28, in Korea at the age of 37, and flying Rolling Thunder missions at the age of 51. For this and his renown as a gunnery expert, Garrison was known in the service as "The Gray Eagle". U.S. Air Force historian and author Walter J. Boyne described Garrison as a "first-rate combat unit leader." Col. Robin Olds, commanding the 8th TFW in Thailand, said of his vice commander: "Of the many hundreds I've served with, Garry was one of the greatest—as pilot, as gentleman, as officer, and as friend." Garrison was born on a farm near the tiny hamlet of Mt. Victory, in Pulaski County, Kentucky, a part of Appalachia. He was a younger half-brother to his father's first child and the oldest of five sons and three daughters (one of which died in infancy) born to Mayhue H. Garrison and his second wife, Shelta Harriet Sears Garrison. While he grew up farming and timbering to help his family subsist, he also completed a basic education despite the Great Depression. He graduated from Pulaski County Public Schools in 1933, then went on to two years at Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College, and earned a teaching certificate after a term at Sue Bennett Junior College in nearby London. He taught elementary school in one-room schools between 1936 and 1941. Following his return from World War II, Garrison was married to Reatha Mae Cuthbert (1928–1959) of London, Kentucky, until her death in July 1959. Garrison remarried in August 1961 at Mountain Home, Idaho, to Marie E. Lee (1920–1997). The couple resided in Idaho after his 1973 retirement and raised three daughters and a son. Garrison died of a heart attack on February 14, 1994, in Mountain Home. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery with his wives.