ARIA December 2009 Newsletter

In Memory of Henry E. "Steve" Stephenson Jr.

STEPHENSON JR., Henry E. "Steve" 76, of Springfield, died Wednesday morning, November 25, 2009 following a lengthy illness. He was born in San Pedro, California on July 26, 1933 the son of the late Henry E. and Elsa (Farrell) Stephenson. His father was in the Navy and they moved to Newport News, Virginia shortly after his birth. Steve received his Bachelor's degree from Rollins College in Orlando, Florida and his Master's degree form Central Michigan University. He retired as a Major from the United States Air Force after 22 years of service and following his retirement, worked for Program Control Corp. for 18 years. He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Regina M. (Kelly) Stephenson; two sons, John E. Stephenson and wife, Mia of Navarre, Florida and Henry E. "Hank" Stephenson III of Montgomery, Alabama; three grandchildren, Eric, Christopher and Maegan; and a great granddaughter, Lyllian. Also surviving is a sister and brother-in-law, Elsa LaVerne (Stephenson) and John Jones of Hartfield, Virginia; a sister-in-law, Mitzi Kelly of Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania; and numerous nieces and nephews. Burial with military honors will be in Arlington National Cemetery on December 30, 2009. The LITTLETON & RUE FUNERAL HOME is serving the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association. You may express condolences to the family at http://www.legacy.com/gb2/default.aspx?bookid=5983025912081

Do you remember when it all began?

ARIA - The Beginning

In 1958 in the radar shop at Patrick Air Force Base a request was made for anyone interested in volunteering in an attempt to recover telemetry data from missiles. This involved flying in an aircraft equipped with instrumented receivers and recorders and a non directional antenna. I raised my hand along with others. Several C-54s were so equipped along with a few C131s. After many hours attending RCA schooling on telemetry and data collection, the actual missions of receiving and recording of missile data began..

Ed Hite

Looking back at 2009

2009 has been a very exciting year.

The 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk and the inclusion of an ARIA 328 Memorial Coin in the time capsule at the former Honeysuckle Tracking Station Canberra, Australia. The time capsule will be opened on July 20, 2069, the 100 year anniversary of landing on the moon.

The continuation of the 4950th Test Wing Reunion and Luncheon after years of absence thanks to Perl Bryslan. Don't forget to mark your calendar for the first Friday in March.

We can't forget the request for ARIA alumni involved during Skylab to take part in the National Geographic documentary Big, Bigger, Biggest. The second season of Big, Bigger, Biggest has begun in the UK and I am looking forward to seeing how ARIA was included in the series in the space station episode. Thanks again to all of the alumni that contributed to this project.

We saw ARIA Aircraft 60-0374 featured in the May 15-17 issue of USA Weekend.

The creation of a Squadron/Signal Publication book on Military Boeing C-135 and Boeing 707s used by the military that will include ARIA thanks to John Gourley. And again another thanks to all of the alumni that contributed to this project.

Last, but not least, the countless information donations for the ARIA History Web Site and Archive. We have seen many rare videos and pictures donated this year. I have to admit something, when I started the flyARIA.com web site I did not think that I would be able to collect enough information on ARIA for the web site. Because of your contributions we are on our way in filling in the blanks. It would not have happened without you.

Looking ahead at 2010

I am looking forward in continuing the work of the ARIA 328 Memorial Foundation and another year of documenting and preserving the ARIA history.

2010 will be a major turning point in my career personally. For those who know my technical and business background you will probably be surprised at my new direction in life that I have chosen.

A few years ago my wife Melody asked if I would want to do work in the mission field. Of course, when I heard mission my mind immediately filled with thoughts of my time with ARIA. I still can visualize images of poverty and disease in the down range locations that I toured with ARIA. My next thought was in what capacity we could be of help in the mission field. It was a complex chain of events that formed our decision.

It has been a long journey, but on November 20, 2009, Melody and I graduated from college with degrees in Nursing. In my clinical practice over the past three years I have been afforded the opportunity to work with Veterans, many during the most difficult time of their life. It was during this time that I realized that working with Veterans in this capacity was something that I needed to do. One of the jobs of a nurse is to advocate for their patients. I can't think of a better job than to advocate for a Veteran.

It will take a number of weeks before I will get my authorization to test to be able to schedule the test for registered nurse state boards. I plan to make application to the VA Hospital here in Cincinnati, so please wish me luck. Once settled in our jobs we will be scheduling vacation time to work in the mission field. The first place on my list is Senegal, Africa. I have many fond memories of Senegal because of ARIA and I am looking forward to returning helping those in need.

In Closing 2009

I want to thank everyone that has allowed the ARIA Newsletter to come into their home and office. I have enjoyed working on the newsletter and I have appreciated all of the kind comments that you have sent me. I want to thank those that have contributed to the ARIA 328 Memorial Foundation for the construction of the ARIA 328 Veterans Memorial in Walkersville, Maryland. Your donations are moving us closer to fund the construction of the memorial. I want to also thank those that have taken the time to share their experience, pictures, film, and video so the ARIA history can be preserved.

I wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2010.

ARIA Web Site Update

Over the next week I will be moving the ARIA web sites to a new server in Washington, DC. Please let me know if you are having any problems accessing the site and contents. The work is scheduled to be completed no later than December 5, 2009.

Correction Submissions

No corrections this month.

Did I Forget Something?

Please let me know if I have not included your submitted information in the newsletter. Have something you want to include in the newsletter? It is easy to do, just send me an email.

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Contact Information

I can be contacted through the ARIA Memorial web site or by Randy.Losey@ARIAMemorial.com. You can also use this email address to submit information to be included into the ARIA Newsletter.