More detail on this person: Ronald (Ron)
McKinley was born in Rochelle, GA. and away
February 1, 2012.
Ron was active in the Boy Scouts and attained the
rank of Eagle Scout and the God and Country
Award. He graduated from Rochelle High School in
1956, and worked briefly for the Seaboard Airline
Railroad in Jacksonville, FL. He attended the
University of Georgia and graduated in 1960 with a
Bachelor of Business Administration and was
commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air
Force. He spent the next 28 years in the Air
Force, his career carried him into all the 50
states and 15 foreign countries. He graduated
from USAF Pilot Training in 1965 and flew B-52s
for eighteen months before attending and
graduating from the USAF Helicopter School in
1967. From there he went to Nakhon Phanom Royal
Thai Air Base and flew the HH-3E Jolly Green
Giant, long-range rescue helicopters for a year
and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and
five Air Medals for missions over South Vietnam,
North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. From there he
was assigned to Naha AB, Okinawa and
subsequently Kadena AB, Okinawa, still flying the
HH-3E. He was deployed to South Korea in 1969
when the Russians shot down the Navy EC-121
near Vladivostok, USSR. He was sent back to
South Vietnam in the Spring of 1972 for the An Loc
Offensive. He retired from George AFB, CA in 1988
with the rank of Lt. Colonel.
Following his retirement, he and his wife Kandee
started and operated several businesses under the
name of Southwest Savvy. He did the design, layout
and editing of more than twenty books for local
authors in the Southern California area. Ron was
active in the High Desert Woodworkers Association,
the Inland Woodturners Association in Riverside,
CA., and the Patriots Tea Party. He is survived
by his wife of more than 32 years, Kandee, and
four daughters. In lieu of flowers, and because
they are involved in charitable projects for which
they need funds, please make a donation of any
size to either: Inland Woodturners, 1245 Saffron
Circle, Corona CA 92879 OR High Desert
Woodworkers, 17224 Darwin #4, Hesperia, CA
92345
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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