Vincent Russell “Jack” Chiodo, age 96, died peacefully on June 4, 2018, after a brief illness. A veteran of World War II, he retired in 1965 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as the Chief of Security and Law Enforcement at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas after over 23 years of service.
Jack was born on July 17, 1921 to Russell B. Chiodo and Eva Coleman in San Antonio, Texas.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Russell and Eva Chiodo, his wife of 57 years, Cleo Wilmeth Chiodo, a son Jack R. Chiodo, a brother Sam Chiodo and a sister Audrey Hardaway. He is survived by his daughter Leesa L. Barton and husband Glenn, three grandchildren Kristal Barton Money and husband Gant, Kimberly Barton Doran and husband Casey, Tyler Chiodo, and two great-grandchildren Abigail and Jack Doran. He is also survived by a brother Chester H. Chiodo, a sister Janie Tope-Dawes along with several nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
Jack served in North Africa, Sicily, France and in the landing of Italy in WWII. He saw duty in Japan, Korea and Okinawa. In 1961 he was assigned to Randolph Air Force Base.
During his military career, Jack earned several awards and commendations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, American Campaign Medal, Euro-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (2), Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Commendation Ribbon, WWII Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters.
One of Jack’s most remarkable achievements, while in the military, occurred while on a mission on D-Day Plus One, June 7th, 1944. At the time, Captain Chiodo, at age 22 was a member of the 32nd Troop Carrier Squadron of the 314th Troop Carrier Group and on this day was ordered to re-supply airborne troops that had been dropped into the Cherbourg Peninsula. Jack was the co-pilot of the C-47 during this mission and was forced to take over when the pilot, Capt. Winford D. Taylor was seriously wounded while over the drop zone. Jack ultimately landed the plane safely with malfunctioning navigation equipment. It was not until an inspection of the aircraft after landing that it was determined that 46 holes were in the plane, 10 feet of the right wing was broken off, the right aileron was broken and partially missing, the right engine had run out of oil and the para-packs had not released which were loaded with land mines. They were blessed to have made it back to Warmwell, a RAF base located three miles east of Dorchester, England. The plane was so badly damaged that it never flew again. For this flight, Jack was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism in aerial flight.
On May 25, 1946 he married Cleo Mabel Wilmeth, a native of Dilley, Texas. Starting in the late 1940s he began to accumulate land in south Texas for a future farming and ranching operation near Dilley. After having approximately 20 different location assignments in 23 years of service, he retired from the Air Force in 1965 and began the farming and ranching business known as Chiodo Farms which he would continue to grow over the years. Always the entrepreneur, he spent some time in the oil drilling business and was the founder and/or co-founder of Dilley Feed & Grain, Inc., Carrizo Feeders, Ltd. and Jack’s Produce, all in south Texas. After the passing of his wife, in 2004, he spent the majority of his time on the farming and ranching business now known as Chiodo Farms, Ltd. which he founded over 50 years ago.
Jack was a 55+ year member of Victory Masonic Lodge #1160 in San Antonio and was a member of and Deacon in Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church for many years.
Eulogies will be offered by family members including Dr. Beverly Chiodo, daughter of the late Sam Chiodo and Jack’s niece.
A graveside service will be held at 9:00 am on Friday, June 29th, 2018 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery with full military honors.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the “Honor Flight Network” at www.honorflight.org which transports veterans to DC to visit the Memorials and/or “Donald J. Trump President, Inc.”, c/o Trump Tower, 725 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10022. These causes were two of Jack’s great passions.
