John Shaw Lynch

Lt. Col. Lynch was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Lyman Clifford Millard and Virginia Kemper Lynch. As a young man he watched aircraft practice landing and taking off from the USS Langley, attended Norfolk Academy, and later graduated from the Augusta Military Academy, in Fort Defiance, Virginia. He then enlisted in U.S. Marine Corps and was a staff sergeant at the end of his enlistment in 1952. After his service in the Marines, John continued his education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. Following the university, he joined the Air Force and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant at Bryan Air Force Base, Bryan, Texas.

He began his Air Force career as an instructor pilot at Bryan AFB and later at Craig AFB, Selma, Alabama. From 1961 – 1964, John was invited to become part of the test team of the T-38 program at Edwards AFB, California, serving under the famed Chuck Yeager. He then instructed the first class of pilots to put the T-38s into regular service at Randolph AFB, near San Antonio, Texas.

His next assignment was to the U.S. Foreign Service Language School in Arlington, Virginia, where he became fluent in the Vietnamese language prior to being sent to Viet Nam. Lt. Col. Lynch served two tours in Vietnam. During the first tour he was a forward air controller flying the O-1 Birddog while posted with a U.S. Army Special Forces team located at Song Be, Phuoc Long Province. He was present during the May 1965 Battle of Song Be when two Viet Cong regiments attempted unsuccessfully to take the town and base. During his second tour he flew the B-57 Canberra, a light attack bomber, and flew many night missions interdicting the Ho Chi Minh trail.

After Viet Nam, John was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff/Joint Matters in the Pentagon. He also became the Senior Air Force Social Aide to the White House during the end of the Johnson and in the Nixon Administrations. Here he assisted in the arrangement of social and state functions for visiting heads of state. It was at the White House where he met and married staffer Jane Pierpoint. He finished his Air Force career flying F-4 fighters at Homestead AFB, Florida and at Osan AFB, Korea.

Lt. Col. Lynch’s decorations include the Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Cross, sixteen Air Medals, two Purple Hearts, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with palm and three Vietnamese meritorious awards.

Very proud of his military heritage, John was always glad to talk about his ancestral grandfathers’ contributions to the service of our country: Colonel Junius F. Lynch MD who was the Virginia National Guard’s surgeon general from 1910 through to the Great War; and served as a physician with the 93rd and 42nd Divisions of the American Expeditionary Force in France. Dr. Lynch founded American Legion Post 35 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Major General James L. Kemper who led a brigade in Pickett’s Charge and after the war was the first popularly elected Governor of Virginia. Commodore William F. Lynch, USN who gained renown during his exploration of the Dead Sea and River Jordon in 1847-1848. Commodore John Shaw, who made the USS Enterprise famous by outfighting several larger and better armed enemy vessels during the Quasi-War with France.

After leaving the military, John was active in numerous historical organizations: The Council on America’s Military Past where he was the longtime National Membership Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors, The Westerners Clubs of Phoenix and Scottsdale, and the Scottsdale Civil War RoundTable. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and of the Society of the War of 1812. He did extensive research and writings on General Patton’s Desert Training Center in the desert between Arizona and California.

John is preceded in death by his first wife, Mary E. Chainski, his mother and father, brother, Lyman Clifford Millard Jr. and his sister, Mrs. Virginia Kemper Scott.

Lt. Col. Lynch is survived by his wife of 48 years, Jane Pierpoint Lynch, his son, John S. Lynch II (Cheryl) by his first wife Mary E. Chainski, his daughter, Ashley Kemper Lynch Rodi, (Christopher) and grandchildren Second Lieutenant John S. Lynch III, Virginia Katherine Lynch of Williamsburg, Virginia and Kemper Belle Rodi and Edyn Lane Rodi of Newport Beach, California.

The Lynch family requests that in lieu of flowers charitable donations be sent to American Legion Post 35, 850 W. Ocean View Ave., Norfolk, Virginia, 23503.

A Memorial Service will be held for John on Saturday, January 5 at 11:00 a.m. at Brophy Chapel, 4701 North Central Avenue, Phoenix. Burial will take place later at Arlington National Cemetery.

Lieutenant Colonel John Shaw Lynch USAF (Ret.)