Walton Herbert Osborne III

Colonel Osborne, the son of the late Mollie Beck (Jenkins) and W. Herbert Osborne, Jr., graduated from Shades Valley High School, Homewood, Alabama, in 1951. After earning his undergraduate degree from Auburn University, then Alabama Polytechnic Institute, Auburn, Alabama in 1955, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. While stationed in Germany, he met and married Else Denise Holzwarth in 1959, his wife of 63 years.

During his 24-year military career, Colonel Osborne served in communications, aviation, and logistics. After serving in several communications assignments, he attended flight school and subsequently served in several flying assignments, including the 11th Air Assault Division which tested the Army's airmobile concepts. He deployed to Vietnam in 1965 with the 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile) as an assault helicopter pilot/platoon leader where he participated in numerous combat operations with the Division. In a subsequent combat tour, he commanded the Army's largest general support avionics maintenance company in Vietnam, providing maintenance support to one-third of all Army aircraft, plus all Mohawk surveillance aircraft in Vietnam.

Colonel Osborne served overseas for 14 of his 24 years in the U.S. Army with four tours in Germany, in addition to his two in Vietnam. Other career highlights were as a battalion commander in the 1st Support Command of the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Chief of the Material Readiness Division on the U.S. Army, Europe staff in Heidelberg, Germany; Deputy Commander, 11th Aviation Group in Schwaebisch Hall, Germany; and finally as the Post Supply Officer for Fort Rucker, Alabama, location of the Army Aviation School. His awards include the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Air Medal with 11 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and numerous service awards.

After retirement from the U.S. Army in 1979, Colonel Osborne worked in the trucking industry in Birmingham, Alabama, and subsequently in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was the Corporate Warranty Manager for a national truck leasing company. In 1996, he and his wife, Denise, retired and returned to Birmingham to be with their children and grandchildren.

Colonel Osborne was a member of the Briarwood Presbyterian Church for many years. He also enjoyed membership with fellow military retirees in the Birmingham Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America.

He is survived by his daughter, Christa Sullivan (David); his son, Christopher Osborne (Tammy); his sister, Katherine Lund (Chet); his grandchildren, Mary Smith (Calvin), Michael Sullivan (India), Mollie Green (Matthew), and Ethan Osborne; and his great-grandchild, Anna Smith.

Visitation will be Saturday, March 9, 2024 at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham, Alabama from 10-11 a.m., followed by the funeral service at 11 a.m. at Ridout's Southern Heritage, 475 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham, AL 35124 with a lunch afterwards. Burial at Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama.

In lieu of flowers, please give to The Presbyterian Home for Children, www.phfc.org.