More detail on this person: Donald Bruce
Donald Bruce Skipper, LTC (USA Retired) 68 of
Conyers, Ga., passed away, Thursday, April 17,
2014, at 5:20a.m. while listening on the phone to
the reassuring voice of his wife. He was diagnosed
three weeks ago with stage 4 lung cancer. LTC
Skipper was born September 28, 1945 in Bayonne,
New Jersey. He was preceded in death by his
father, James Grainger Skipper, his mother,
Florence Heheman Skipper of Bayonne, N.J.;
sister, Florence Jane Mardini; two nephews,
Edward Mardini, Jr. and Jimmy Mardini of Bonne
Terre, Mo. LTC Skipper is survived by wife, Kathy
Skipper, of the home; son Richard Hardin Skipper
of Marietta, Ga; son Jonathan Grainger Skipper and
wife Carrie Kaminski Skipper of Wilmington, NC;
brother-in-law, Dr. Edward Elias Mardini of Bonne
Terre, Mo.; five grandchildren: Richard Hardin
Skipper II and Joseph McLeod Skipper of Marietta,
Ga.; Lily Alexandra Skipper, Luke Grainger
Skipper, & Locklyn Littlepage Skipper of
Wilmington, NC, and two nieces Laila M.Curan and
Susan M. Mardini. LTC Skipper was a loving dad,
husband, granddad, and a great friend. He always
had a helping hand for those in need. He will be
deeply missed. The funeral service to honor the
life of Don Skipper will be Wednesday, April 23,
11 am at Tom M. Wages Snellville (GA) Chapel.
The family will receive friends from 10 - 11 prior
to the service. Condolences may be viewed or sent
to www.wagesfuneralhome.com. Tom M. Wages
Funeral Service, LLC, "A Family Company"
Snellville Chapel 770-979-3200 has been entrusted
with the funeral arrangements. Or, condolences can
be sent to Kathy Skipper at
Kathyskipper7@gmail.com or 4175 Haralson Mill
Road, Conyers, GA. In lieu of flowers, the family
requests donations be made to the Wounded
Warrior Project.
Published in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on
Apr. 20, 2014
SKIPPER: Husband and father Donald Bruce
Skipper, LTC (USA Retired) 68 of Conyers, Ga.,
passed away, Thursday, April 17, 2014, at 5:20a.m.
He was diagnosed in late March 2014 with stage-4
lung cancer.
A Senior Army Aviator, he flew CH-47s in Vietnam
with the 213th ASHC - Blackcats (call sign
Blackcat 17) and CH-47s for the King of Thailand
(where he earned the Royal Thai aviator's badge).
He also flew UH-1s and OH-58s in Germany and
stateside assignments. He was proud of the fact
that he was the only pilot to successfully survive
a dual hydraulic systems failure that occurred at
5,000 feet over II Corps in Vietnam. He managed to
bring the Chinook safely down to a POL site with
no damage to the aircraft or crew.
Don graduated from Infantry OCS in 1969 and was
assigned to Ft. Jackson, SC as a training officer.
Three weeks into that assignment he so impressed
the Commanding General with his determination to
prepare his trainees for Vietnam that he was given
his own basic training company. That set the
precedent for unique assignments always earned
ahead of the schedule of a normal career track.
He commanded the basic training Company as a
2nd Lieutenant. As a Captain he commanded V
Corps Instrument Flight School, an Armor Company
and 5/33rd Armor Battalion (Provisional). All were
highly successful commands with outstanding,
measurable results reported in every inspection
and command review. During his last command Don
was handpicked to serve in the new Office of Armor
Force Management to help implement the
recommendations of the Chief of Staff of the Army
to improve the Armor Force worldwide.
During the last years of the Vietnam War, when
resources to support Army Aviation in Germany
were slim and aviator morale was low, Don formed
the Taunus Chapter of the Army Aviation
Association of America (AAAA). He coordinated
with American Express Tours, secured the
USERUR Commander's permission and arranged
for 500 aviators and their families to attend the
Paris International Air Show as well as the
Farnborough, England International Air Show on
permissive TDY status for 10 days. In England,
for example, they stayed in a 5-star luxury hotel,
toured London, attended the air show on non-public
day as guests of aviation manufactures, and saw
the public introduction of the SR-71 Blackbird as
it landed right in front of them following a
record breaking transatlantic flight. He arranged
for two charter jets to transport all the
attendees and did the entire 10-day package for
only $160 per person. Needless to say, morale
improved dramatically.
Reassigned stateside, Don became the President
of the AAAA Air Cav chapter, then President of the
Metro-Atlanta Chapter, before finally throttling
back to simple membership in AAAA. He also
became the first President of the Blackcat
Association.
During his assignment at Forces Command
(FORSCOM) he invented, developed, secured the
budget for and then successfully grew the Reserve
Component Overseas Deployment Training Program
(ODT), deploying as many as 78,000 National
Guard and Army Reserve troops to 58 foreign
countries to help fulfill our treaty obligations,
conduct war-plan-related training and improve
Reserve Component unit readiness. He spent two
years on TDY status to every Army Command
worldwide to ensure success of the ODT
Program.
Following his retirement, Don became the Director
of Operations for an international medical imaging
company, Senior-Vice President for a corporate
outplacement company and then formed our own
business - Career Beginnings, Inc. Family owned
and operated, Career Beginnings specialized in
assisting military officers in transition to
secure excellent civilian positions and careers.
In 25 years of operation, he helped many thousands
of officers to secure just the right civilian
position.
Don became a professional educator in 1979 when
he became an adjunct professor for Embry Riddle
Aeronautical University. He continued teaching
throughout his life at several colleges and
universities as Adjunct Professor of Health Care
Economics at the Graduate School, University of
St. Francis, Adjunct Professor of Computer
Systems at Dekalb College and the Graduate
School, Stetson School of Business and
Economics; as Senior Associate Professor in
Business, Economics and Computer Systems at
Saint Leo University, and as Assistant Professor
in and Department Chair of Information Systems for
the School of Education at Mercer University. He
was also Program Director for and on the faculty
of the American Institute for Computer Sciences.
He retired from academia in 2004 after a very
successful 25 year teaching career.
Don is survived by his loving wife, B. Kathy
Skipper, of the home; son Richard Hardin Skipper
of Marietta, GA; son Jonathan Grainger Skipper and
wife Carrie Kaminski Skipper of Wilmington, NC;
brother-in-law, Dr. Edward Elias Mardini of Bonne
Terre, MO; five dynamic grandchildren: Richard
Hardin Skipper II and Joseph McLeod Skipper of
Marietta, GA; Lily Alexandra Skipper, Luke
Grainger Skipper, & Locklyn Littlepage Skipper of
Wilmington, NC, and two nieces Laila M.Curan and
Susan M. Mardini.
Don lived his life at full throttle; influencing
everyone he met to exceed his or her goals. He
always had a helping hand for those in need and
made a positive contribution to his family and to
America's future. Commander, Professor, Mentor,
Dad, Husband, Papa/Grandpa, Friend - he is and
will continue to be deeply missed.
This information was last updated 12/01/2016
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