Percy Columbus Albritton

He was born in the rural community of Laurel Hill Florida near the Alabama line and the city of Atmore on June 23, 1927. His Parents James and Fronia preceded him in death early in his life losing his Mother when he was age 2 to complications of childbirth, and his Father when he was age 16. He was the youngest surviving child of 12 children, with 8 siblings who were half Bothers and Sisters. With the loss of his Mother at such an early age he was “passed around to the older siblings for his care. He learned at an early age to fend for himself, as well as what poverty meant during “The Great Depression”. Like many of his generation, he was a graduate of the “school of hard knocks” where he learned indelible life lessons at an early age. A voracious reader and self-starter, his early life consisted of a combination of formal schooling that lasted until about the seventh or eighth grade. Always a lover of Newspapers, he saw an add in a local newspaper (Crestview/Pensacola area) for a position as an Apprentice Aircraft Mechanic at the Naval Air Station Pensacola. He was age 14. He jumped at this opportunity (perhaps adjusting his age to meet the criteria). He was accepted for the position and this was the beginning of a lifelong journey with aviation. Two years later, and by then a trained Aviation Mechanic, he was age 16 and it was 1943 and the USA had entered WWII. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps (again he may have upsized his age) and was put on a train to San Diego, CA for Recruit Training. Upon graduation from boot camp he desired to become an aerial gunner, but he was given orders to North Island, which he thought was just another Island Marines were attacking in the Pacific War. To his surprise he was assigned to a Marine unit as an aircraft mechanic that was readying fighter aircraft for war deployment at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California. Needless to say this was a very different “North Island” than that which he expected. On his first day on the job at his new unit he was issued a tool box and told to go change the flap on a Chance Vought F-4 Corsair aircraft. And so it began, a love affair with aircraft and the Marine Corps. “The rest of the story” as Paul Harvey so famously said on his radio show for years is more the source of a book than this Obituary, so we shall summarize. Along with marrying Margaret Eagerton of Chumuckla Fl, and starting a family with three sons he continued his career as a Marine. He progressed from mechanic to enlisted flight crewmember eventually being selected to be trained in the first group of KC-130 Hercules Flight Engineers at the Lockheed factory in Marrietta, Georgia in 1961. This led to a long affair with Lockheed C-130 aircraft in the Marine Corps and subsequently in a second career as a Field Service Representative for Lockheed Georgia Corporation. He retired from both with over 47 years of combined service. He saw much of the world through his assignments as a Marine and as a Field Service Representative. As a Marine he served during wartime in WWII, the Korean War, the Lebanon Crisis, The Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Viet Nam War. In the Cuban missile crisis, he served as a KC-130 Flight Engineer flying Marines and supplies in to the Naval Air Station Guantonamo Bay Cuba (Gitmo) repeatedly throughout the crisis. And, in Viet Nam he served in direct combat in the same capacity as a KC-130 flight engineer operating in and out of the airfield at Khe San while under heavy enemy fire. For this action and others, he was awarded the Air Medal, and Combat Action ribbon. During his career as a Lockheed Field Service Representative, he was assigned to numerous overseas posts. He was assigned to Saudia Arabia, Malaysia, Algeria, Tunisia, Okinawa, Bolivia, and Peru, among others. In Peru he met his future wife and the love of his life and surviving spouse, the lovely Rosa. Together they traveled the world, always supporting each other and making a success of every assignment no matter the challenge. He was predeceased by his parents James and Fronia, his first wife Margaret, his Son Jerald, And all of his Brothers and Sisters. He is survived by his wife Rosa, his Sons Mark (Linda), Michael (Jana), Granddaughters Meredith and Mallory (Michael and Jana), Kristen and Lauren (Mark and Linda). He left us at age 93. His was a remarkable life and a true American tale. He made a difference, and he will be missed. Visitation will be Thursday, January 21, 2021, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM, at Faith Chapel Funeral Home South. Services will follow at 12:30 PM. Interment will be at Barrancas National Cemetery, NAS Pensacola, FL. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Navy Marine Corp Relief Society (nmcrs.org). FAITH CHAPEL FUNERAL HOME SOUTH, 100 Beverly Parkway, Pensacola, is entrusted with arrangements. You may express condolences online at www.fcfhs.com.

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Percy Columbus Albritton

June 23, 1927 - January 10, 2021