Brigadier General Milton Eugene Nelson USAF (Retired)

Milton Eugene “Nellie” Nelson was born on March 6, 1925 in Tarrant, Alabama to Dwight Talmadge Nelson and Ernestine German Nelson and departed this life on September 11, 2014 at the age of 89 years and 6 months.

Milt grew up in suburban Birmingham, Alabama as the second of four children. Six months after Pearl Harbor, when he graduated from high school, he convinced his parents to let him enter the Army Air Corp as an aviation cadet. He earned his pilot wings two years later in August of 1944.

Milt faithfully served his country throughout three wars— World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. During WWII, at the early age of 19, he commanded B-17 aircraft with the Eighth Air Force in the European Theater of Operations. In the Korean War, while with the Fourth Fighter Group, he flew combat tours in F-86 aircraft where he shot down four MIGs and earned a Silver Star among other distinguished decorations. Later, he spent four years as an experimental test pilot and chief of the Air Force Fighter Test Branch, during which he test-flew all Air Force jet fighter aircraft from the F-80 to the F-106. Milt moved on to assume various command positions in the Air Force, including two tours in the Pentagon. He retired as a Brigadier General after 32 years of service.

His military decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation Emblem with oak leaf cluster, and the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon. He also achieved the Air Force designation of Command Pilot.

Milt married Sherry Petersen in 1955, after returning from Korea. They enjoyed nearly 31 years together and raised three children. During that time they moved often as he followed his various assignments with the Air Force. After his retirement from the military in 1975, he spent ten years as a Vice President at Farm & Home Savings in Austin, Texas.

After Sherry’s passing, Nellie met and married Eileen Wilen. They enjoyed a full life together over the next 24 years, moving from Austin, Texas to Pinson, Alabama and then spending over a year on the road in their RV, before settling in San Antonio, Texas at The Army Residence Community (ARC) in 2000. Milt and Eileen, along with their joyful Maltese, Muffie, were much-loved members of the ARC family.

Milt had a soft heart for people from all walks of life. He expressed his concern for others through quiet acts of kindness and each relationship brought him great joy. He was beloved by all who were blessed to know him.

Milt is preceded in death by his wife Enid “Sherry” Petersen Nelson in 1985 and his wife Eileen Wilen Nelson in 2011. He is survived by three children— son Camron E. Nelson, MD and wife Cathryn Goff Nelson of Dallas, Texas, son Kent E. Nelson and wife Leslie Surles Nelson of Houston, Texas, and daughter Karen Nelson Reuland and husband Michael L. Reuland of Austin, Texas. He is also survived by five grandchildren: Bethany Nelson Kerstetter and husband, Bradley R. Kerstetter of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Scott C. Nelson and wife Amy Berry Nelson of Grapevine, Texas, Matthew D. Reuland, Austin M. Reuland, and Noah N. Reuland, all of Austin, Texas. He is also survived by his younger siblings, Doris Nelson Patterson and Charles B. Nelson, both of Birmingham, Alabama, and preceded in death by his older brother, Raymond D. Nelson.

A memorial service and celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 11:00 AM in the chapel at The Army Residence Community, 7400 Crestway Drive, San Antonio, Texas. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia in spring 2015. In lieu of flowers, for those desiring, donations may be directed to The Army Residence Community Resident Gift Fund, 7400 Crestway Drive, San Antonio, Texas 78239 or St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 810 Kitty Hawk Road, Universal City, Texas 78148.