Monday, October 03, 2011

Arnie Clarke a soaring spirit. Friends remember airport manager as humble, courageous. Pangborn Memorial Airport (KEAT) Wenatchee, Washington.

 Arnie Clarke
Former airport manager and pilot died in December

Chuck DeVlaming: Wingman for Arnie Clarke in Vietnam

EAST WENATCHEE — Arnie Clarke, Vietnam rescue pilot and former airport manager, was a man of humor, valor and inspiration throughout his military and civic careers, friends and colleagues said Saturday.

More than 150 people turned out at Pangborn Memorial Airport to honor Clarke at the unveiling of a memorial display that features biographical sketches, war photographs and medals, including a Purple Heart and Silver Star.

At the memorial’s start, a fly-over by four F-16 fighter jets performed the “missing man” formation in his honor.

The ceremony was a featured event of Pangborn’s annual Aviation Day, which gives close-up, hands-on views of airport operations and a variety of planes. The celebration, held on the tarmac and inside hangars, is part of Wings & Wheels, one of East Wenatchee’s most popular festivals.

Clarke, who died in December at age 75, served four tours in Vietnam, flew 385 combat missions and later served as manager of Pangborn Airport for nearly 22 years.

As a flight leader in Vietnam, Clarke “inspired us to do things that we didn’t know we had the courage to do,” said Chuck DeVlaming, a wingman for Clarke on many military missions and a friend for 40 years. “He was a great leader and a good, brave man. He always got us home.”

DeVlaming, now a Florida attorney, built the display cases to hold Clarke’s memorabilia. He used Grenadilla — a lustrous, reddish wood native to Africa — for the frames because, he said, “it was the most beautiful wood I could find.”

The two displays will be permanently installed in the Pangborn terminal on a wall where travelers enter security gates, said Pangborn Manager Greg Phillips. “It’s a prominent spot for a prominent figure in our airport’s history.”

With humor and heartfelt emotion, Bob Parlette, another colleague and friend of Clarke, said the aviator didn’t fit the fighter pilot stereotype. “He wasn’t a rogue. He wasn’t a braggart. He was a humble man who took 20 years to tell me that decades earlier he had earned a Distinguished Flying Cross.”

The medal is awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement in flying and is considered a top military honor.

Said Parlette, “Arnie taught us how to live, and he taught us how to die with dignity. He was a good, decent man but also a fun-loving kid — right up to the end.”

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