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<em>Reed Lewis Stone</em> joined the Class of ’55 on 3 Jul 1951 after his “Rat Year” at the Virginia Military Institute and Fork Union Military Academy. He was well schooled in the Plebe system and adapted well. He had no problems with academics, graduated in the top half of the class, and selected Air Force and pilot training.</p>
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His first training station was Moore AFB in the Texas Valley, where he learned to fly “prop” aircraft. He then selected jet training and went to Laredo AFB. While at Laredo, through friends, he met Roberta Love. Who wouldn’t fall for a girl with a name like “Love”? Reed certainly fell, and when he won his wings, he selected Harlingen AFB as his first duty station so he could be close to Roberta. The next two years he burnt up the roads between Harlingen-Laredo and the University of Texas, courting Miss Love.</p>
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Reed and Roberta were married in September 1958, and true to his promise to show his bride the world, they moved to Harlingen! Shortly thereafter, he was select­ed to attend the University of Michigan and earned his master’s in aeronautical/astronautical engineering. While at Michigan, their first child, a daughter Tracy, was born. Upon graduation, he was assigned to Air Force Systems Command in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, their two sons, Lewis and Reed, were born.</p>
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Reed then was selected to return to West Point to serve in the Earth, Space and Graphic Science Department. At that time, the West Point Superintendent was autho­rized his own aircraft. Since it was the same plane Reed had flown in Harlingen, he and his classmate Al Buie became the pilots.</p>
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When his tour at West Point drew to a close, the war in Vietnam was heating up, and the Air Force needed pilots. Reed was selected for train­ing and assigned to the C-123 Pro­vider. Upon com­pletion of training, he was stationed at Da Nang air base in South Vietnam. As a re­sult of his bravery during his tour, he was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and six Air Medals. He returned to the Space and Missile System Division in Los Angeles and later was assigned as the head of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Purdue Uni­versity. Upon completing that assignment in 1981, he retired from the Air Force as a colonel. Reed and Roberta settled in Austin, TX, built their home, and Reed established himself as a business owner and landlord. He took an active part in the community, joining the Rotary, the West Point Society, the ACES, and the computer club, as well as becoming an active member of his church.</p>
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He also started enjoying his retirement, enjoying his family (all three children and four grandchildren live in Austin), socializ­ing with his friends and classmates, record­ing his favorite music, and playing weekly golf with friends. Reed died of complications from pancreatic cancer on 12 Dec 2009, eigh­teen months after having been diagnosed.</p>
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Dear friend and class­mate, you have fought the good fight and slipped the surly bonds of earth. Well done. Be thou at peace.</p>
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<em>—Campbell '55, Kennebeck ’55, and Reed’s family</em></p>