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<p>Why would someone on an Army ROTC scholarship to UCLA, living in a fraternity, playing club lacrosse, involved in a high-profile romance with UCLA’s golden girl (feature baton twirler) depart to attend West Point? In any era this would raise eyebrows; in 1968 it was incomprehensible. The country was violently against the Vietnam War and everything military; however,<em> Jay Mark Augustenborg</em> was driven by memories of his father.</p>
<p>Jay lost his father at age 8. His mother, widowed after only 10 years of marriage, would never remarry, and Jay would become the surrogate father and good big brother to his two younger brothers. His father had served as a pilot in the Air Force, flying in World War II, the Korean War and the Berlin Air Lift, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and promotion to major. Jorgen Augustenborg died at age 36 when a Navy P2V hit the rear of his C-118. Jay wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and serve in the Air Force.</p>
<p>During his first eight years, Jay lived in four U.S. states and in Japan. After his father’s death the family settled near Los Angeles. Jay attended South Gate High School, where he excelled and was elected senior class president. He applied to the Air Force Academy but failed the 20/20 vision requirement and instead accepted an Army ROTC scholarship to UCLA. Jay decided that he could realize his childhood ambition in another of the armed forces. He applied to West Point. His father’s service allowed Jay to be commissioned in the Air Force. He was one of 25 (four from B-1) of the 822-member Class of 1972.</p>
<p>Jay’s first assignment in 1974 was as an electronic warfare officer on an AC-130 gunship flying over Cambodia and Vietnam. Though the Vietnam service ribbon was no longer awarded after March 1973, American involvement in the Vietnam War would continue through the spring of 1975. Thailand was not Jay’s original assignment, but another second lieutenant, just married, asked him to switch. Jay agreed and was stationed in Thailand at Udon, then at Korat Royal Thai Air Base. There he would meet his future wife.</p>
<p>Elsa Caroline Lynch was from Ireland. With a degree in teaching and a master’s in French, she “wanted to do something good.” She thought Thailand was “an interesting country,” knew the French had colonized Southeast Asia and was hired by a school in the country’s largest province, Nakhon Ratchasima. Upon arrival, she would learn that the French had colonized the three adjacent countries but not Thailand. Her French was useless, so she learned Thai. She also helped at a local orphanage.</p>
<p>Jay’s additional duty was civic action, doing good works in a 25-mile radius around the base. He met Elsa through these duties and invited her to supper but was refused. Undeterred, Jay proposed painting the orphanage and delivered a 5-gallon paint can, impossible for Elsa to lift. Jay offered to help paint in exchange for a supper date, and Elsa agreed. Their relationship would blossom. They wed in County Kerry, Ireland on October 10, 1975, en route to Jay’s next assignment in Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.</p>
<p>Jay served as a weapons systems operator on F-4s for three years. He welcomed daughter Cara, resigned from the active Air Force, joined the Air Force Reserves, and relocated to Pennsylvania. He eventually joined Schlumberger, the world’s leading oilfield services provider, and worked as a senior logging engineer for five years determining the potential of oil fields while living in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and New Orleans, LA. After the oil market collapsed, Jay changed to civil engineering at Belle Chasse Air Base in New Orleans and commanded the civil engineering squadron in the Air Force Reserves. He also joined the police department reserve program, patrolling the streets of the Big Easy. His civil engineering squadron was deployed globally, building schools and hospitals in Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean.</p>
<p>After eight years in New Orleans, Jay, seeking promotion, moved to Richland, WA and became the deputy director of waste management at Hanford, a Department of Energy nuclear waste site. Jay retired from that position in 2006 as a GS-15 and from the Air Force Reserves in 2003 as an O-6. In retirement, he embraced volunteer work for the Red Cross Disaster Services, manning the community disaster response center and deploying to disasters. He also indulged his passion for golf, joining several golf leagues and achieving four holes in one.</p>
<p>In 2017, Jay and Elsa bought a residence in Bray, Ireland to be near Elsa’s family and their daughter, Cara. Cara lectures in environmental policy at University College Dublin, is a member of the Irish President’s Council of State and has a popular weekly program on environmental issues for a nationally broadcast radio station. Cara’s 9-year-old daughter Eva recently became one of the youngest accredited beekeepers in Ireland. Elsa retired from her position as an IT project manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2019.</p>
<p>Health problems plagued Jay in later years: atrial fibrillation, migraine headaches, forgetfulness and balance issues. No underlying cause was diagnosed except Jay’s smoking, uninterrupted since he began the habit in 1967 at UCLA. While vacationing in Mexico, Jay fell, fractured a hip, and hit his head. The surgeon diagnosed brain bleeding, placing Jay in an induced coma. He would never come out of it. He died three days later on February 16, 2020. His funeral was conducted at West Point on February 24, 2020 with his family and five of his B-1 classmates in attendance.</p>
<p>Well Done, Jay; Be Thou at Peace.</p>
<p><em>— Company B-1, 1972</em></p>
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