USAF ROTORHEAD Members

John Lindgren.

Mar. 1970 – May 1970, at Udorn RTAFB, Thailand with the 40th ARRS as a HH-53C Pilot.

May 1970 – Feb. 1971, at Da Nang AB, RVN with the 37th ARRS as a HH-53C Pilot, Instructor Pilot.

February 1971 – June 1973, at Hamilton AFB, CA. with the 41st ARRS as a HH-53C Flight Examiner.

Currently;

Life Member Jolly Green Association,

Life Member Military Order of the Purple Heart,

Life Member Order of Daedalians,

Life Member U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association,

Member Distinguished Flying Cross Society,

Board Member American Legion Post 291 Newport Beach, CA.

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John O. Lindgren Jr., Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Retired)

October 07, 1939 – May 03, 2022

John Ola Lindgren, Jr., LT COL USAF (ret)

Born in Hilo, Hawaii on October 7, 1939. Died May 3, 2022, Corona del Mar, California. He was preceded in death by his parents, John O. Lindgren and Billie Jean (Garrett) Lindgren and his sister Greta Jean James. He is survived by his children Lance Eric Lindgren and Heidi (Lindgren) Boyce and his loving wife, Gale Marie Atwood.

John graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, WA, graduating with the class of 1957 and attended the University of Washington for a year until receiving an appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy. He graduated from the Academy in 1962 and accepted a commission in the U. S. Air Force. He then attended the University of Southern California until 1964 and was awarded a Master’s Degree in Engineering.

He started his Air Force career, at Edwards Air Force Base, CA where he was assigned to the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory and the Flight Test Center. He attended pilot training at Vance AFB, OK, where he was a Distinguished Graduate of Class 68E. During his flying career he flew the C-141 transport and in Vietnam, he flew the HH-53 Super Jolly Green Giant helicopters and was credited with 5 combat rescues.

After Vietnam, he was assigned to Travis AFB, CA, where he flew the C-5 aircraft and retired in 1986 as a Lieutenant Colonel. During his career, he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, Five Air Medals and a Purple Heart as well as two Distinguished Service Medals.

After retirement, John worked at McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach as a Manager of Advanced Programs and later at Ingram Micro as Federal Programs Manager for the Government Division. He served on the Board of Directors of his homeowners’ Association for ten years and on the management team at the American Legion Post 291 in Newport Beach.

The inurnment will be at the Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar, CA on May 21st, 2022, at 12:00 pm Pacific Time.

If you are interested in attending, please reach out to John’s son Lance Lindgren at (949) 706-4258 or lindgrenle@gmail.com to get further details and to RSVP.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to donate to the Veteran Emergency Assistance Fund sponsored by the American Legion Newport Harbor Post 291 to which John was a member: https://www.al291.com/veaf Or, feel free to donate to a charity of your choosing.