Peter Eliot Landon

Peter Eliot Landon

San Diego
Peter was born in San Diego, CA oldest son of Morris "Brick” and Virginia Franklin Landon, older brother of John and sister Janet, cousin of Gini, husband of Dawn, father of Sarah, and grandfather of Shepherd. Pete was the oldest of the direct family but truly young and loving at heart. In fact, it was that heart that betrayed him at the end along with complications from metastatic cancer.
Peter spent his younger years sailing, surfing, misbehaving, and exploring San Diego. He graduated from Point Loma High School in 1964 and the University of Pacific in 1968.
Before he joined the Army, he spent time traveling with his family to sailing regattas - he tried out for the Olympics twice in the Dragon class with his father and brother - ski vacations, trips to Tijuana, several wonderful Franklin family anniversaries at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite, sailing trips around San Diego, to Baja, Acapulco, Hawaii, and Tahiti.
When he entered the Army in 1968, he went full bore; officer’s candidate school, Ranger and 10th Special Forces, becoming a Green Beret. He was part of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG) in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam).
In 1970, he participated in, "Operation Tailwind," a covert incursion that was classified for many years. It was a mission meant to prevent the North Vietnamese Army from funneling weapons to their own forces through Laos, along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The operation involved about 136 men, including 16 American soldiers and 120 Montagnard fighters. The operation inserted the men by helicopter 60 miles inside the Laos border. After successfully completing their mission, and despite being wounded and crashing in a helicopter, they were safely evacuated.
Captain Peter Landon received several medals, citations and badges including a Purple Heart and Bronze Star and an honorable discharge from the Army in 1972.
After the Army, he joined the construction team at University Mechanical, and spent 10 years in San Diego as an estimator, and another 10 in San Francisco as a project manager, working on many substantial building projects throughout California. During this time, he raced in several Transpac sailing races on his brother John’s boats, survived a major earthquake in San Francisco, and was known as the Enforcer on his sister’s soccer team.
When he retired the first time, he and Dawn bought a cruising sailboat, the Amadon Light, and sailed off on a slow voyage through Central America to Panama, became bilingual, and took up scuba diving. Upon their return, they moved to North County. Pete was self-employed as a construction scheduler, then both Dawn and Pete went to work for NAVFAC Southwest, the Navy’s facilities engineering command. Their work took them from Camp Pendleton, to Naples, Italy where they spent nearly four years working and traveling throughout Europe and North Africa.
Peter is survived by a few family members but a ton of friends and acquaintances. Please hug each other, toast each other and do good things while you still can.
A celebration of his life will be held on November 20 at 11:00 a.m. at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas, CA. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery with military funeral honors in Arlington, Virginia in the spring, exact date to be determined.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Almost Home Pet Adoption Center, 29 Stagebridge Rd., Lovingston, VA, 22949 in memory of Peter E. Landon.