Glenn Edward Nations

Glenn Edward Nations, 97 of Longmont, Colo., formerly of Rogers, Ark., died October, 17, 2018. He was born near Plainview, Texas, the oldest of the five children of Sam and Roberta Nations. Glenn grew up in rural west Texas through the depression in the 1930's and attended Snyder High School, graduating in the spring of 1938, started college at Texas Technological College and joined the Texas National Guard in November of 1938. In September of 1939, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps at Fort Bliss, Texas and was sent to March Army Air Base at Riverside, CA for basic training. He was transferred to Elmendorf Field in Alaska for aircraft armorer and automatic flight control training. World War II started while Glenn was stationed in Alaska. Glenn returned to California as an Aviation Cadet to attend navigation training and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant Navigator on November 21, 1942. By December 1942, Glenn was with the 319th Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group, 5th Air Force in the southwest Pacific. He was the navigator of a B-24 Liberator, flying 40 plus combat missions in WWII, leading navigation on some missions out of Australia and New Guinea. On December 1, 1943, his plane was shot down in the Pacific and he spent 26 hours on a life raft until rescued by a PT boat. The survivors were taken to the coast of New Guinea and were the first patients in new portable hospital tents close to the front lines. After three weeks Glenn returned to the US where he saw the end of WW II from American soil. Glenn continued his military career after WW II, flying combat missions in the Korean War and serving until August of 1960, retiring as a Major from the US Air Force. For his service to his country he received a Purple Heart, a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal, awarded for distinguishing himself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Near the end of his military service, Glenn married Donna Claire Heck of Topeka, Kan. in 1956. Glenn received a bachelor's degree from Washburn University of Topeka and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He worked as a social worker for the US Veteran Administration in Topeka for a decade, again serving the military. After divorcing, Glenn moved to Noel, Mo. in the mid 1970s to be near his mother and siblings. He met and married Judy Riley and moved to Rogers, Ark. in the late 1980s. After separating and retiring, Glenn moved again to be near family in Longmont, Colo. Glenn is survived by his daughter, Kristy Nations Johnson of Wasilla, Alaska, granddaughter, Kira Johnson and grandson, Charlie Blomstrom-Johnson, both of the Topeka, Kan. Other family members surviving include Glenn's cousin Milton Schley Adams and his wife, Paula, of Abilene, Texas; his nieces, Sandy Nations Smith of Denver, Colo. and Cathy Everest of Prairie Village, Kan. And of course, his best friend, Pete, now living in Denver, Colo. Glenn is preceded in death by his four siblings and both wives. Military funeral services will be held at the Fayetteville National Cemetery on Monday, October 29 at 11 a.m. in Fayetteville, Ark.