Kent Robbins Stratford, 92, passed away Saturday, May 21, 2011 at his residence in Harlingen.
He was born November 19, 1918 in Haw River, NC.
After graduating from the University of Maryland, Kent began his military service at Randolph Field in San Antonio, TX in 1940. He graduated at Kelly Field also in San Antonio which was known as the West Point of the Air. He then joined the Army Corps prior to the Pearl Harbor attack as a B17 Instructor Pilot.
Kent served during World War II as a B-17 pilot, Instructor Pilot and a C-124 Globemaster Pilot at Charleston AFB in South Carolina. He retired from the USAF as a Colonel after 25 years of service.
After his retirement he spent 15 years with the American Red Cross, spending a one year term in Vietnam and then working at the US Military Academy at West Point, NY as a Field Director.
Kent was a longtime resident of Harlingen where he was a member of Grace Lutheran Church and a former Colonel in the Confederate Air Force when it was located in Harlingen.
Kent is survived by son, K.R. Stratford; grandchildren K. Robbin Stratford and Carolyne Anne Perrone; great grandson Anthony Vincent Perrone.
He was preceded in death by his wife of over 30 years, Elizabeth Angell Stratford a former Retired Colonel in the US Army Nurse Corps.
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