John Calvin Campbell

John Calvin Campbell, 96, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, died peacefully on Friday, Oct. 30, 2015. Service: A private service will be held in Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, a donation may be given to a charity of choice. John was raised in Eastover, S.C., on his family's farm. As a young boy standing in a pasture he gazed at a small plane above him and said to himself "THAT is what I'm going to do when I grow up." He began taking flying lessons while attending the University of South Carolina and with a semester remaining joined the Army the day following the Pearl Harbor attack. After flight training at Kelly Field in San Antonio, he was sent to the Canal Zone to gain experience before being transferred as a B-29 pilot flying the "Hump" from India to bomb enemy targets. In 1944, after many successful missions, his plane was shot down and he spent the last eight months of the war in a Japanese POW camp in Northern China. After a short stint as a civilian, he was recruited back to active duty and flew B-36 bombers from Carswell AFB with subsequent assignments in Libya, Kansas, Michigan, and Thailand before returning to Fort Worth and retirement at Lake Country Estates where he enjoyed years of golf and companionship with many friends. His greatest pleasure was time spent with his grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beautiful and gracious wife, Kitty. The family is grateful to Drs. Dearden, Roberts, Ross and Harty and the caregivers at the James L. West Center. Survivors: Sons, John and Craig; daughters-in-law, Laura and Gretchen; and grandchildren, John and wife, Ola, Kelly, Megan, Mackenzie and Kelsey.