Curtis V. Nelson

Walker AFB, NM (1966); U-Tapei AB, Thailand (1969); Clinton-Sherman AFB, OK (1969); southeast Asia
  • Military specialty: Electronic Warfare Officer
  • Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with 8 oak leaf clusters

b. 04 Dec 1942.  Curtis Vernon Nelson, son of Vernon E. and Lorraine K. (Erickson) Nelson of Revere, MN,  attended Storden High School before graduating from Walnut Grove High School in Walnut Grove, MN in 1960.

He entered the U.S. Air Force in Mar 1963. He served one year as an aviation cadet at Waco, TX and then was  commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and rated as a navigator in Mar 1964. His first operational assignment was to Shaw AFB, SC as an electronic warfare officer on the RB-66 electronic reconnaissance aircraft. His unit was deployed to southeast Asia in May 1965. He flew combat missions from Saigon and Thailand into North Vietnam in conjunction with operation “Rolling Thunder”, the Air Force bombing effort in North Vietnam. He completed 100 combat missions in North Vietnam in Nov 1965.  He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Medal with 8 oak leaf clusters for this service.

He then was reassigned to Strategic Air Command and was trained as a combat crew member  in B-52 bombers starting in Dec 1965. While he was an electronic warfare officer in B-52’s, he was stationed at bases in OK, NM, and CA. His duties included flying airborne alert and standing ground alert with nuclear ready strategic bombers. In 1968 and in 1970, he was deployed to southeast Asia to fly missions in support of the ground forces in Vietnam. During these assignments in which the B-52’s were armed with conventional weapons, he flew 180 combat bombing missions.

Upon his return to the U.S., Curtis was assigned to Clinton-Sherman AFB, OK, in Jul 1969, at the rank of Captain. He was discharged in Mar 1971.

Curtis married Susan Debates on 01 Mar 1964.

  • Obituary: None on file