Military Alumni

Military High School Alumni

Honoring Our Heroes

This area is dedicated to our alumni that have served or are serving in our armed forces!

Lost Class Rings

Have you lost your Van High School class ring? Have you found someone's class ring? Visit our Vandals lost class ring page to search for your class ring or post information about a found ring.

Honored Military Alumni

Bobby Don Ballard
Bobby Don Ballard
Class of 1964
Army, 2 Years

July, 1967 to July, 1969
Bravo 2/5 1st Air Cav Dec. 1967 to Dec. 1968
David Gilbert
David Gilbert
Class of 1977
Air Force, 8 Years

Airborne Cryptollogic Linguist, Combat Crew. Stationed in Alaska, served around the world.
Eric Krisher
Eric Krisher
Class of 1984
Navy, 8 Years

88-92 Active Duty Navy - Aviation Electronics Technician/Aircrew/Electrronic Warfare Operator, Desert Shield/Storm
92-96 Reserves - Avionics Tech/Flightcrew
Kevin Cotton
Kevin Cotton
Class of 1987
Navy, 6 Years

USS Texas CGN-39 1990-1992
USS Nimitz CVN-68 1992-1995
larry middleton
larry middleton
Class of 1977
Army, 10 Years

63B 30
Lorna Yolanda (Gomes) Rudd
Lorna Yolanda (Gomes) Rudd
Class of 1973
Air Force, 20+ Years

I joined the Air Force in Tyler, when I was 19 and retired in 1993.
Randy Dove
Randy Dove
Class of 1978
Air Force, 4 Years

Crew chief on F-15s
Russell Bond
Russell Bond
Class of 2001
Army, 8 Years

SGT Russell Bond has served eights years in U.S. Army with a tour in Korea and two tours deployed to Iraq. SGT Bond is finishing up his second tour in Iraq and will be leaving the Army so he can spend more time with his kids.
Thomas A Musick
Thomas A Musick
Class of 1971
Navy, 20+ Years

U. S. Naval Supply Corps Officer
Served on Submarines, surface ships and overseas. Retired as a Navy Captain.
Wayne Garrett
Wayne Garrett
Class of 1984
Air Force, 16 Years

Utility systems supervisor
Aircraft armament
Wayne Stanford
Wayne Stanford
Class of 1964
Air Force, 4 Years

Hospital Medical Service. Served in Viet Nam '68 - '69
Wendell Glen Pugh
Wendell Glen Pugh
Class of 1987
Air Force, 20+ Years

Entered as Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist and now am a First Sgt.
Wendell Glen Pugh
Wendell Glen Pugh
Class of 1987
Air Force, 20+ Years

Currently serving as a First Sergeant but originally enlited as an Aircraft Armament Systems Specialist.
Wesley Middleton
Wesley Middleton
Class of 1973
Air Force, 20+ Years

NCO, 11 years; graduated OTS, served as Missile Launch Officer, retired 01/01/00. Now Civil Service, Chief of Faculty Development, Sheppard AFB TX
Wrussell Kristiansen
Wrussell Kristiansen
Class of 1973
Navy, 20+ Years

Joined in 1975 in Athens, TX.
Retired from Navy in 1997

Classmates Spotlight

Van High School Classmates

Melissa Smith
Class of '74

Alumni Stories

High School Alumni Stores

Read and submit stories about our classmates from Van High School, post achievements and news about our alumni, and post photos of our fellow Vandals.

School News

2019 Big Reunion

Thanks to EVERYONE that made the Big Reunion another great and fun success!! It's always good to see 'life time' friends...
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Our Van High School military alumni are some of the most outstanding people we know and this page recognizes them and everything they have done! Not everyone gets to come home for the holidays and we want our Van High School Military to know that they are loved and appreciated. All of us in Van are proud of our military alumni and want to thank them for risking their lives to protect our country!