Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, 88, of Falling Waters, WV formerly of Morgantown passed away on Monday, August 15, 2011. A gathering of family and friends will be held at Hastings Funeral Home, 153 Spruce Street, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011 at 1:00p.m.
Command Pilot, Air Force One for Richard M Nixon∼OBITUARY FOR:
RALPH ALBERTAZZIE, 1923-2011
August 20, 2011|Valerie J. Nelson
Ralph Albertazzie brought Nixon home after he resigned and was flying over Missouri when President Ford took the oath. He slipped Henry Kissinger into Paris for secret negotiations and also ferried JFK.
Ralph Albertazzie's most memorable flight as President Richard Nixon's personal pilot on Air Force One was the final, history-making journey they took together.
Summoned to fly Nixon home to Orange County after the president resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, Albertazzie made sure to calculate the geographic point the plane was flying over -- 13 miles southwest of Jefferson City, Mo. -- when incoming President Gerald Ford finished taking the oath.
Then, at the midpoint of the flight, Albertazzie radioed ground control to request a new call sign for the Boeing 707 that could be known as "Air Force One" only if an acting chief executive was aboard.
"In the plane's lounge people were crying," Albertazzie told People magazine in 1979. "I don't think ever again will a president leave office while flying in a plane. Afterwards, Nixon came out of his private compartment and said: 'Well, is everybody enjoying the trip?' No one spoke."
Albertazzie, a retired Air Force colonel who served in three wars, died Monday at his home in Falling Waters, W.Va. He was 88. Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va., confirmed his death.
When Nixon took office in 1969, Albertazzie was "without question the best 707 pilot the Air Force had," Bill Gulley, a former director of the White House military office, wrote in the 1980 book "Breaking Cover."
The logbook Albertazzie kept showed that he had manned the controls of Air Force One for 324,264 miles as the president visited 35 countries, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported in 2001.
Nixon had him slip Henry A. Kissinger into Paris 14 times for secret negotiations aimed at ending the war in Vietnam. Albertazzie also made several trips, with Kissinger and Nixon, to China that led to normalized relations with that country.
During the Kennedy administration, Albertazzie regularly flew with the president and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson. John F. Kennedy relished the privacy the plane provided, while the gregarious Johnson often visited in the cockpit, the pilot recalled in "The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One," the 1979 book he wrote with J.F. terHorst, who was briefly Ford's press secretary.
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie was born July 16, 1923, in Cassville, W.Va. The son of a coal mine superintendent, he washed airplanes at a small local airport in exchange for flying lessons. He later bought the airport.
While in the military, he taught bomber pilots in World War II, flew troops and supplies in the Korean War and completed 25 combat missions during the Vietnam War, according to the 1979 People article.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1974, Albertazzie served as West Virginia's commerce commissioner. He later owned a truck stop and a TV station in the state.
He also co-wrote a well-reviewed 1989 suspense thriller, "Hostage One," a fictional account of an attempt to kidnap a president by hijacking his plane.
In "The Flying White House," Albertazzie recounted his parting exchange with Nixon after their last landing, at the El Toro military base.
"We covered a lot of miles together, you and I," Nixon, who had resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal, told his pilot. "I'm sorry it's ending this way."
"I am too, Mr. President," Albertazzie told Nixon just before a helicopter took him home to San Clemente. "Good luck. Goodbye."
Albertazzie's wife, Carol, died in 1999 after 57 years of marriage.
He is survived by two daughters, Lynette Crosby and Sally Albertazzie; a half-sister, Lorraine Stout Simpson; and two grandchildren.
___________________________________________________
THE FOLLOWING IS THE OBITUARY FROM THE BROWN FUNERAL HOME IN MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA in August, 2011
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, 88, of Falling Waters, WV died on Monday, August 15, 2011.
Ralph D. Albertazzie was born in Cassville, West Virginia on July 16, 1923. He graduated from Morgantown High School in 1941 where he was an outstanding football player.
Albertazzie served in the United States Air Force for thirty years, reaching the rank of Colonel. In 1968, he was selected to be the commander of Air Force One serving President Richard Nixon. During that service, he was the first American pilot to fly into communist China during Nixon's historic trip to China. He also flew missions ferrying Henry Kissinger to Paris for the secret peace talks which led to the end of the war in Vietnam. During his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He co-authored two books, one on the history of Air Force One and, the other, a novel.
Following military service, he served as West Virginia Commissioner of Commerce under Governor Arch Moore and owned businesses in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
He resided from 1977 in Falling Waters, West Virginia.
Ralph was married to his high school sweetheart, Carol Jean Wilson, for 57 years. They had two daughters, Lynette Crosby (David Crosby) of Pinehurst, NC and Sally Albertazzie of Alexandria, VA; two grandchildren, Michael S. Murphy and Catherine Murphy. He is survived by his half-sister Lorraine (June) Stout Simpson, and many nieces and nephews.
Ralph was preceded in death by his parents and his half-brother Ed Stout and half-sister LaVeda Lazorski.
The family will mourn privately and, in accordance with Ralph's request, his ashes will be spread over his beloved hills of West Virginia. The family would like to express deep gratitude for steadfast devotion and many kindnesses given by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Wilson of Falling Waters.
Command Pilot, Air Force One for Richard M Nixon∼OBITUARY FOR:
RALPH ALBERTAZZIE, 1923-2011
August 20, 2011|Valerie J. Nelson
Ralph Albertazzie brought Nixon home after he resigned and was flying over Missouri when President Ford took the oath. He slipped Henry Kissinger into Paris for secret negotiations and also ferried JFK.
Ralph Albertazzie's most memorable flight as President Richard Nixon's personal pilot on Air Force One was the final, history-making journey they took together.
Summoned to fly Nixon home to Orange County after the president resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, Albertazzie made sure to calculate the geographic point the plane was flying over -- 13 miles southwest of Jefferson City, Mo. -- when incoming President Gerald Ford finished taking the oath.
Then, at the midpoint of the flight, Albertazzie radioed ground control to request a new call sign for the Boeing 707 that could be known as "Air Force One" only if an acting chief executive was aboard.
"In the plane's lounge people were crying," Albertazzie told People magazine in 1979. "I don't think ever again will a president leave office while flying in a plane. Afterwards, Nixon came out of his private compartment and said: 'Well, is everybody enjoying the trip?' No one spoke."
Albertazzie, a retired Air Force colonel who served in three wars, died Monday at his home in Falling Waters, W.Va. He was 88. Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va., confirmed his death.
When Nixon took office in 1969, Albertazzie was "without question the best 707 pilot the Air Force had," Bill Gulley, a former director of the White House military office, wrote in the 1980 book "Breaking Cover."
The logbook Albertazzie kept showed that he had manned the controls of Air Force One for 324,264 miles as the president visited 35 countries, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported in 2001.
Nixon had him slip Henry A. Kissinger into Paris 14 times for secret negotiations aimed at ending the war in Vietnam. Albertazzie also made several trips, with Kissinger and Nixon, to China that led to normalized relations with that country.
During the Kennedy administration, Albertazzie regularly flew with the president and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson. John F. Kennedy relished the privacy the plane provided, while the gregarious Johnson often visited in the cockpit, the pilot recalled in "The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One," the 1979 book he wrote with J.F. terHorst, who was briefly Ford's press secretary.
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie was born July 16, 1923, in Cassville, W.Va. The son of a coal mine superintendent, he washed airplanes at a small local airport in exchange for flying lessons. He later bought the airport.
While in the military, he taught bomber pilots in World War II, flew troops and supplies in the Korean War and completed 25 combat missions during the Vietnam War, according to the 1979 People article.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1974, Albertazzie served as West Virginia's commerce commissioner. He later owned a truck stop and a TV station in the state.
He also co-wrote a well-reviewed 1989 suspense thriller, "Hostage One," a fictional account of an attempt to kidnap a president by hijacking his plane.
In "The Flying White House," Albertazzie recounted his parting exchange with Nixon after their last landing, at the El Toro military base.
"We covered a lot of miles together, you and I," Nixon, who had resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal, told his pilot. "I'm sorry it's ending this way."
"I am too, Mr. President," Albertazzie told Nixon just before a helicopter took him home to San Clemente. "Good luck. Goodbye."
Albertazzie's wife, Carol, died in 1999 after 57 years of marriage.
He is survived by two daughters, Lynette Crosby and Sally Albertazzie; a half-sister, Lorraine Stout Simpson; and two grandchildren.
___________________________________________________
THE FOLLOWING IS THE OBITUARY FROM THE BROWN FUNERAL HOME IN MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA in August, 2011
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, 88, of Falling Waters, WV died on Monday, August 15, 2011.
Ralph D. Albertazzie was born in Cassville, West Virginia on July 16, 1923. He graduated from Morgantown High School in 1941 where he was an outstanding football player.
Albertazzie served in the United States Air Force for thirty years, reaching the rank of Colonel. In 1968, he was selected to be the commander of Air Force One serving President Richard Nixon. During that service, he was the first American pilot to fly into communist China during Nixon's historic trip to China. He also flew missions ferrying Henry Kissinger to Paris for the secret peace talks which led to the end of the war in Vietnam. During his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He co-authored two books, one on the history of Air Force One and, the other, a novel.
Following military service, he served as West Virginia Commissioner of Commerce under Governor Arch Moore and owned businesses in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
He resided from 1977 in Falling Waters, West Virginia.
Ralph was married to his high school sweetheart, Carol Jean Wilson, for 57 years. They had two daughters, Lynette Crosby (David Crosby) of Pinehurst, NC and Sally Albertazzie of Alexandria, VA; two grandchildren, Michael S. Murphy and Catherine Murphy. He is survived by his half-sister Lorraine (June) Stout Simpson, and many nieces and nephews.
Ralph was preceded in death by his parents and his half-brother Ed Stout and half-sister LaVeda Lazorski.
The family will mourn privately and, in accordance with Ralph's request, his ashes will be spread over his beloved hills of West Virginia. The family would like to express deep gratitude for steadfast devotion and many kindnesses given by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Wilson of Falling Waters.
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, 88, of Falling Waters, WV formerly of Morgantown passed away on Monday, August 15, 2011. A gathering of family and friends will be held at Hastings Funeral Home, 153 Spruce Street, Monday, Sept. 26, 2011 at 1:00p.m.
Command Pilot, Air Force One for Richard M Nixon∼OBITUARY FOR:
RALPH ALBERTAZZIE, 1923-2011
August 20, 2011|Valerie J. Nelson
Ralph Albertazzie brought Nixon home after he resigned and was flying over Missouri when President Ford took the oath. He slipped Henry Kissinger into Paris for secret negotiations and also ferried JFK.
Ralph Albertazzie's most memorable flight as President Richard Nixon's personal pilot on Air Force One was the final, history-making journey they took together.
Summoned to fly Nixon home to Orange County after the president resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, Albertazzie made sure to calculate the geographic point the plane was flying over -- 13 miles southwest of Jefferson City, Mo. -- when incoming President Gerald Ford finished taking the oath.
Then, at the midpoint of the flight, Albertazzie radioed ground control to request a new call sign for the Boeing 707 that could be known as "Air Force One" only if an acting chief executive was aboard.
"In the plane's lounge people were crying," Albertazzie told People magazine in 1979. "I don't think ever again will a president leave office while flying in a plane. Afterwards, Nixon came out of his private compartment and said: 'Well, is everybody enjoying the trip?' No one spoke."
Albertazzie, a retired Air Force colonel who served in three wars, died Monday at his home in Falling Waters, W.Va. He was 88. Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va., confirmed his death.
When Nixon took office in 1969, Albertazzie was "without question the best 707 pilot the Air Force had," Bill Gulley, a former director of the White House military office, wrote in the 1980 book "Breaking Cover."
The logbook Albertazzie kept showed that he had manned the controls of Air Force One for 324,264 miles as the president visited 35 countries, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported in 2001.
Nixon had him slip Henry A. Kissinger into Paris 14 times for secret negotiations aimed at ending the war in Vietnam. Albertazzie also made several trips, with Kissinger and Nixon, to China that led to normalized relations with that country.
During the Kennedy administration, Albertazzie regularly flew with the president and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson. John F. Kennedy relished the privacy the plane provided, while the gregarious Johnson often visited in the cockpit, the pilot recalled in "The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One," the 1979 book he wrote with J.F. terHorst, who was briefly Ford's press secretary.
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie was born July 16, 1923, in Cassville, W.Va. The son of a coal mine superintendent, he washed airplanes at a small local airport in exchange for flying lessons. He later bought the airport.
While in the military, he taught bomber pilots in World War II, flew troops and supplies in the Korean War and completed 25 combat missions during the Vietnam War, according to the 1979 People article.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1974, Albertazzie served as West Virginia's commerce commissioner. He later owned a truck stop and a TV station in the state.
He also co-wrote a well-reviewed 1989 suspense thriller, "Hostage One," a fictional account of an attempt to kidnap a president by hijacking his plane.
In "The Flying White House," Albertazzie recounted his parting exchange with Nixon after their last landing, at the El Toro military base.
"We covered a lot of miles together, you and I," Nixon, who had resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal, told his pilot. "I'm sorry it's ending this way."
"I am too, Mr. President," Albertazzie told Nixon just before a helicopter took him home to San Clemente. "Good luck. Goodbye."
Albertazzie's wife, Carol, died in 1999 after 57 years of marriage.
He is survived by two daughters, Lynette Crosby and Sally Albertazzie; a half-sister, Lorraine Stout Simpson; and two grandchildren.
___________________________________________________
THE FOLLOWING IS THE OBITUARY FROM THE BROWN FUNERAL HOME IN MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA in August, 2011
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, 88, of Falling Waters, WV died on Monday, August 15, 2011.
Ralph D. Albertazzie was born in Cassville, West Virginia on July 16, 1923. He graduated from Morgantown High School in 1941 where he was an outstanding football player.
Albertazzie served in the United States Air Force for thirty years, reaching the rank of Colonel. In 1968, he was selected to be the commander of Air Force One serving President Richard Nixon. During that service, he was the first American pilot to fly into communist China during Nixon's historic trip to China. He also flew missions ferrying Henry Kissinger to Paris for the secret peace talks which led to the end of the war in Vietnam. During his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He co-authored two books, one on the history of Air Force One and, the other, a novel.
Following military service, he served as West Virginia Commissioner of Commerce under Governor Arch Moore and owned businesses in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
He resided from 1977 in Falling Waters, West Virginia.
Ralph was married to his high school sweetheart, Carol Jean Wilson, for 57 years. They had two daughters, Lynette Crosby (David Crosby) of Pinehurst, NC and Sally Albertazzie of Alexandria, VA; two grandchildren, Michael S. Murphy and Catherine Murphy. He is survived by his half-sister Lorraine (June) Stout Simpson, and many nieces and nephews.
Ralph was preceded in death by his parents and his half-brother Ed Stout and half-sister LaVeda Lazorski.
The family will mourn privately and, in accordance with Ralph's request, his ashes will be spread over his beloved hills of West Virginia. The family would like to express deep gratitude for steadfast devotion and many kindnesses given by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Wilson of Falling Waters.
Command Pilot, Air Force One for Richard M Nixon∼OBITUARY FOR:
RALPH ALBERTAZZIE, 1923-2011
August 20, 2011|Valerie J. Nelson
Ralph Albertazzie brought Nixon home after he resigned and was flying over Missouri when President Ford took the oath. He slipped Henry Kissinger into Paris for secret negotiations and also ferried JFK.
Ralph Albertazzie's most memorable flight as President Richard Nixon's personal pilot on Air Force One was the final, history-making journey they took together.
Summoned to fly Nixon home to Orange County after the president resigned on Aug. 9, 1974, Albertazzie made sure to calculate the geographic point the plane was flying over -- 13 miles southwest of Jefferson City, Mo. -- when incoming President Gerald Ford finished taking the oath.
Then, at the midpoint of the flight, Albertazzie radioed ground control to request a new call sign for the Boeing 707 that could be known as "Air Force One" only if an acting chief executive was aboard.
"In the plane's lounge people were crying," Albertazzie told People magazine in 1979. "I don't think ever again will a president leave office while flying in a plane. Afterwards, Nixon came out of his private compartment and said: 'Well, is everybody enjoying the trip?' No one spoke."
Albertazzie, a retired Air Force colonel who served in three wars, died Monday at his home in Falling Waters, W.Va. He was 88. Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va., confirmed his death.
When Nixon took office in 1969, Albertazzie was "without question the best 707 pilot the Air Force had," Bill Gulley, a former director of the White House military office, wrote in the 1980 book "Breaking Cover."
The logbook Albertazzie kept showed that he had manned the controls of Air Force One for 324,264 miles as the president visited 35 countries, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported in 2001.
Nixon had him slip Henry A. Kissinger into Paris 14 times for secret negotiations aimed at ending the war in Vietnam. Albertazzie also made several trips, with Kissinger and Nixon, to China that led to normalized relations with that country.
During the Kennedy administration, Albertazzie regularly flew with the president and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson. John F. Kennedy relished the privacy the plane provided, while the gregarious Johnson often visited in the cockpit, the pilot recalled in "The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One," the 1979 book he wrote with J.F. terHorst, who was briefly Ford's press secretary.
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie was born July 16, 1923, in Cassville, W.Va. The son of a coal mine superintendent, he washed airplanes at a small local airport in exchange for flying lessons. He later bought the airport.
While in the military, he taught bomber pilots in World War II, flew troops and supplies in the Korean War and completed 25 combat missions during the Vietnam War, according to the 1979 People article.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1974, Albertazzie served as West Virginia's commerce commissioner. He later owned a truck stop and a TV station in the state.
He also co-wrote a well-reviewed 1989 suspense thriller, "Hostage One," a fictional account of an attempt to kidnap a president by hijacking his plane.
In "The Flying White House," Albertazzie recounted his parting exchange with Nixon after their last landing, at the El Toro military base.
"We covered a lot of miles together, you and I," Nixon, who had resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal, told his pilot. "I'm sorry it's ending this way."
"I am too, Mr. President," Albertazzie told Nixon just before a helicopter took him home to San Clemente. "Good luck. Goodbye."
Albertazzie's wife, Carol, died in 1999 after 57 years of marriage.
He is survived by two daughters, Lynette Crosby and Sally Albertazzie; a half-sister, Lorraine Stout Simpson; and two grandchildren.
___________________________________________________
THE FOLLOWING IS THE OBITUARY FROM THE BROWN FUNERAL HOME IN MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA in August, 2011
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie
Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, 88, of Falling Waters, WV died on Monday, August 15, 2011.
Ralph D. Albertazzie was born in Cassville, West Virginia on July 16, 1923. He graduated from Morgantown High School in 1941 where he was an outstanding football player.
Albertazzie served in the United States Air Force for thirty years, reaching the rank of Colonel. In 1968, he was selected to be the commander of Air Force One serving President Richard Nixon. During that service, he was the first American pilot to fly into communist China during Nixon's historic trip to China. He also flew missions ferrying Henry Kissinger to Paris for the secret peace talks which led to the end of the war in Vietnam. During his service, he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He co-authored two books, one on the history of Air Force One and, the other, a novel.
Following military service, he served as West Virginia Commissioner of Commerce under Governor Arch Moore and owned businesses in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
He resided from 1977 in Falling Waters, West Virginia.
Ralph was married to his high school sweetheart, Carol Jean Wilson, for 57 years. They had two daughters, Lynette Crosby (David Crosby) of Pinehurst, NC and Sally Albertazzie of Alexandria, VA; two grandchildren, Michael S. Murphy and Catherine Murphy. He is survived by his half-sister Lorraine (June) Stout Simpson, and many nieces and nephews.
Ralph was preceded in death by his parents and his half-brother Ed Stout and half-sister LaVeda Lazorski.
The family will mourn privately and, in accordance with Ralph's request, his ashes will be spread over his beloved hills of West Virginia. The family would like to express deep gratitude for steadfast devotion and many kindnesses given by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Wilson of Falling Waters.
