Eugene “Gene” Carolan was born on March 12, 1947, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but moved to Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Detroit Henry Ford High School in 1965. In 1967, he was drafted into the United States Army. After graduation from Basic Training, Gene attended Army Officer Candidate School (OCS). Upon graduating from OCS, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Gene volunteered and completed training as an Army Helicopter Pilot. After earning his Army Aviator Wings, Gene was sent directly to Vietnam where he served as an Army Helicopter Pilot and as an Infantry Officer in combat. Serving as a Cobra Gunship Pilot, Assault Helicopter Pilot, and leader of soldiers and airmen in Vietnam, Gene was awarded the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, several Air Medals, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.
After leaving the Army, Gene attended Eastern Michigan University and earned a degree in accounting in 1972. Gene joined the Michigan Army National Guard in 1977 and served for over two decades as an Officer and Helicopter Pilot. He served as a Helicopter Platoon Leader, Air Cavalry Troop Commander, and Assault Helicopter Battalion Commander. Gene was directly responsible for the successful training and mentoring of an entire generation of Michigan Army National Guard Helicopter Pilots, many of whom subsequently deployed on tours of duty to our nation’s wars in the Middle East.
Gene retired from the Michigan Army National Guard in 1997 as a Colonel and was placed on the Retired List of the United States Army when he turned 60 years of age in 2007. In the private sector, Gene was a CPA, owning his own accounting firm, championing small businesses in the Lansing area, and serving as the President of Junior Achievement of Mid-Michigan. Col. Eugene “Gene” Carolan passed away on July 22, 2021.
Born in Hancock: Dennis ‘Doc’ Hallada was born in Hancock, Michigan in 1947. He moved with his family to Minnesota in 1951 where he attended and graduated from Aurora-Hoyt Lakes High School in 1965. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1966. He graduated from basic training and passed the Army Flight Aptitude Test. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and completed helicopter pilot flight training. He was assigned to Vietnam as a UH-1 Helicopter pilot, completing more than 3000 sorties and 1583 combat flight hours. On October 16, 1966, he was awarded the U.S. Army Broken Wing Award for safely landing an AH-1F Cobra Gunship after experiencing engine failure over mountainous terrain at night on a busy freeway.
During his 18 months of service in Vietnam, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, and 30 Air Medals, one being for Valor. While in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, he had performed as aircraft commander, flight platoon leader, and was promoted to Captain. Upon returning from Vietnam, he was assigned to Fort Wolters, Texas as a Helicopter Flight Instructor.
In 1973, he was discharged from the U.S. Army and joined the Michigan Army National Guard. While serving in the Michigan Army National Guard, he worked as a full-time instructor pilot, flying and instructing other pilots in UH-1 and AH-4 helicopters. He retired from Army Aviation in 1999 having flown more than 12,500 hours.
Christina Koch was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on January 29, 1979, moving to North Carolina at age 3. Christina dreamed of becoming an astronaut and attended NASA Space Camp. Christina graduated from North Carolina State with a bachelor’s degree in Physics and Electrical Engineering and a master’s in Electrical Engineering.
After graduation, Christina took science and engineering jobs in remote locations such Antarctica, Greenland, the Northern coast of Alaska, and American Samoa. She became the first woman to serve as a cryogenics technician at the South Pole. One of the scientific instruments she worked on traveled on the Jupiter Juno Missions in 2011. While working in Barrow, Alaska, about 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Christina submitted her NASA application.
After interviewing, NASA selected her for the 2011 Astronaut Candidate Class. During her training she mastered the T6 turboprop plane and learned to fly NASA’s T38 supersonic jets. She was required to learn survival skills and take Russian lessons. She completed her training in 2015. During her missions, Christina set several records. She made history with the longest single spaceflight by a woman—328 days in space. On October 28, 2019, she participated in the first all-woman spacewalk with fellow astronaut, Jessica Meir. Christina participated in three ISS space missions and six spacewalks. Christina returned to Earth on February 6, 2020. That same year, she received an honorary PhD from North Carolina State University. Christina is currently training as an Artemis Team Member.
Ray was born December 1, 1921, in Paris, Illinois. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan where he attended Cass Technical High School. Ray Owen enlisted in the Naval Air Corps on August 3, 1942. He began ground school in Asheville, North Carolina, flying Piper Cubs, and trained in the Boeing Stearman in Olathe, Kansas in June 1943. Later that summer, he transferred to Corpus Christi, Texas, and flew Vultee SNVs and SNJ Texans. In January, he was sent to the Naval Air Station in Miami, Florida, for fighter training in an SBD Dauntless. When he went to Glenview, Illinois, in March of 1944, he successfully landed the SBD on the USS Sable in Lake Michigan and received carrier qualification. He was then assigned to Pearl Harbor to receive further training in the F6F Wildcat as part of Air Group 81.
From November 1944 to February 1945, Owen was involved in major strikes in China, Japan, and the Philippines aboard the USS Wasp. One flight saw the wings of Owen’s F6F riddled with bullets, but he managed to fly the 100 miles back to the ship, compensating for the sustained damage. He served out the remainder of the war stationed on the East Coast and separated from the Naval Air Corps in November 1945 as a Lieutenant. He earned the Philippine Liberation Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, and Air Medal. Owen worked as an electrician for the next 45 years, and regularly talks to young people in Detroit, Northville, and Midland about his experiences.
Robert Floyd “Bob” Potvin was born in Detroit on May 31, 1947 and graduated from Detroit Benedictine High School in 1965. After attending Michigan State University, Bob entered the United States Army, and completed Basic Training. He volunteered for Warrant Officer Flight Training, was accepted, and trained as an Army Helicopter Pilot. Upon graduation from flight school, Bob was assigned to Vietnam, as an Air Cavalry Scout Helicopter Pilot, in the First Cavalry Division. For his bravery in combat, Bob was awarded the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Purple Heart.
After returning from Vietnam, Bob continued to serve in the Army as an Instructor Pilot in AH-1 Cobra Gunships. Bob left the Army and again attended Michigan State University, graduating with a degree in Criminal Justice in 1973. Bob joined the Michigan Army National Guard, where he again served as a Scout Helicopter Pilot in an Air Cavalry Unit. In that capacity Bob was directly involved in the training and standardization of scores for other helicopter pilots, and in their acquisition of Air Cavalry and Attack Helicopter tactics, techniques, and procedures. Many of the pilots Bob helped train subsequently deployed overseas to fly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4) Robert “Bob” Potvin passed away on May 5, 2019.