A Classmate from Aiken

Mike Day had kept up with a classmate of 6 years at Aiken Elementary who moved away after a year at AJH, Larry Newcome. Mike relates that Larry passed away from cancer back in February with these words:

I wanted to advise you that Larry Newcome who is in the address group passed away in February and was buried in Arlington the first week of March of this year after a fierce battle with cancer. He left behind a wonderful, loving, and devoted wife, two sons, and daughter who miss him enormously.

Larry would have graduated with our class had he not moved to Jackson, MS, after the 7th grade. We went to grammar school together all six years at Aiken, and in the 7th grade at AJH - Mrs. C. Moore was our home room teacher. He graduated from LSU with a BS in aeronautical engineering in 1972 and was commissioned in the U. S. Air Force via ROTC. He retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel a couple of years before 9-11, but no one deserved to wear a colonel's eagles more than Larry.

We were good friends from the first grade at Aiken until his death. We were roommates in Johnson Hall at LSU in 1968-69. Over the years, we communicated often about many interests, concerns, and things. Larry was smart, completely loyal and reliable in all things, personally brave, and he valued his service to our republic, his family and his integrity over all other things. His obituary in the Washington Post was three sentences - he deserved more. While his obituary was consistent with his preference for discretion and privacy, it was unfair to him and his achievements. Larry was a stand-up man and very accomplished in his profession.

Larry was an early supporter and passionate champion of using unmanned aircraft in the U. S. Air Force. The Air Force was at the time a military service completely committed to manned flight and NOT unmanned flight. Larry's tireless promotion of the UAV in the pentagon could have been seen as heresy and very inconvenient. But, ultimately Larry's work and support to make the UAV an effective intelligence gathering tool in Bosnia would ultimately save many lives in Afghanistan. Larry was very involved in the development, deployment experimentation, and evolution of the Lockheed RQ3A Dark Star, RQ4Global Hawk, and RQ9 Predator. In the end, Larry was a civilian manager of a portion of the Predator's hunting territory until he became unable to continue full time work at the end of 2009.

One could not ask for a better friend and confidant than Larry. I really miss him.

Best Regards, Mike.