Jerry Hunter
was born about four months before me. He
lived with his family in Douglasville.
As small kids we sometimes played together as kids. Honestly, we did not hit it off, we had two
different lifestyles. I was what would I
call now a "free range" kid. I
had freedom do wander where I wanted and come back when I wanted (within reason). Jerry, on the other hand, was raised to ask
his parents' permission to leave the yard.
I think that
the well-disciplined way of life paid off for him. He graduated from Douglasville High school
with honors and also graduated from Citadel Military College in Charleston as
an military officer and a pilot.
He gave his
life in the Viet Nam War. He was shot
down .
From the magazine LOOKING GOOD
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Vol 1, Number 3, March/April 1988. Article JERRY HUNTER: he
gave his life. By Vicki Harsbarger.
Jerry Hunter, 25, was about to
complete his 34th mission of the Vietnam War.
The two months he had spent in
Vietnam had been filled with missions such as this one. Supply lines were sought, supply lines were
bombed.
The F-105 was a one-man jet
requiring much expertise of the pilot.
He delivered his bombs directly on the targeted bridge. The enemy fire hit the plane, he bailed
out. The pilots watched as the parachute
disappeared from sight in the trees.
From the ground, a beeper signal
was heard by the pilots. They attempted
a rescue, but enemy fire struck from the area of the area where the parachute
had landed. A second plane was hit, and
the pilots were forced to return to base.
Two months later, American
soldiers were able to search the place where Robert Gerald Hunter went
down. Laos natives took the men to the
place where his body was buried.
Jerry began his final journey
home to be buried in the town where he was voted most talented of Douglas
County High School; where he dreamed of one day attending the Citadel; and
where of dream of becoming a pilot began with an essay written on how
Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic would affect the future of aviation.
Awards came early for Jerry
Hunter. He was honored with other
superlatives at Douglas County High School, with his claim to fame the title of
Most Talented. He was well known for his
artistic talents, and worked as editor of the school yearbook. He starred in the senior play.
"If anything happens to him,
he's doing what he wants to do", his wife of one year, Laura Ann Milby,
had said of Hunter. His parents, Robert
and Zelma, had suggested that he choose a line of work in keeping with his
Citadel degree in business administration, but he would not settle for less
than his dreams.
"He wanted to be the
best." Zelma Hunter reminisces.
"He always wanted to be a good pilot. He said if he made a good place for himself
in the Air Force he would make a career of it or he would be become a
commercial pilot," she said.
The handsome flyer passed all
manner of physical tests toprove his fitness of pilot training, which he received
at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta following his graduation from the Citadel
with honors. Minor surgery was suffered
twice by Hunter in order to fly the F-105, Mrs. Hunter said.
"He didn't want us to
worry," Mrs. Hunter says lovingly of her son. "I'd ask him on the telephone if he'd
been shot at, wanting him to say no. He'd say, "Yes, but they missed.
Don't worry about it, Mom, sometimes it's fun."
During the week while the Hunters
awaited the return of Jerry's body, the Chamber of Commerce acting on a motion
by Church of Christ Minister Richard Waggoner, passed a resolution recommending
that the park be memorably named Hunter Park.
On July 18, 1966, the Hunters'
hopes died with the news of their son's death and his returning body. On July 22, funeral services were held at the
Church where Jerry became a Christian, First Baptist Church of
Douglasville. The church was overflowing
as the first Douglas County military and 11th Citadel victim of the Vietnam war
was laid to rest.
Over 100 flags flew at
Douglasville businesses, painstakingly placed there by the remembering hands of
the Jaycees. The town was subdued as
businesses closed for the afternoon.
As faces were in unison at Rose
Memorial Gardens Cemetery toward the casket containing the remains of Robert
Gerald Hunter, the sound of planes roared overhead, urging the mourners to gaze
upward.
Four planes flew across the
horizon in unison, three planes returned.
This plane is a fixture at Douglasville's Robert Gerald Hunter's Memorial Park
