John Townsend was born in Edinburg, Mississippi, on August 31, 1927, to Josh and Nettie Townsend. John lived with his parents in several locations, and his father farmed most of the time.

In 1941, World War II started, and shortly thereafter John dropped out of school and went south the Gulf Coast to live with his uncle while he worked in the shipyard as a welder. Shortly thereafter, his mother and father decided to move south; he then lived with them.

John had two older brothers who were away at war and getting medals. John also wanted to go to war and become a hero like his older brothers, but at the time he was only 16. His parents refused to sign for him to get into the military. John decided that he would alter his birth certificate and make a "5" out of the "7" making him 18. He went to see the Army and Navy recruiters, but it did not work. They recognized the fake birth record. Dejected, he went walking down the street in New Orleans and came upon the Maritime recruiting office. Those folks did not inspect the birth records very closely, and he was accepted and sent to St. Petersburg, Florida, for training.

In less than six months, John was on a liberty ship in a convoy headed for the Soviet Union. That convoy was attacked, but John was in no position to be a hero as he was stuck below in the engine room. His next ship was a tanker filled with fuel oil to supply the Navy on a planned invasion of Japan. A few days before his ship reached its destination of Okinawa, the atomic bomb was dropped, and the war was over. John never became a hero. In January 1946, he was discharged from that ship and went home and tried to go to school for his school diploma, but it did not work.

He then went looking for the Army recruiter, so in June 19948 John was an instructor in the aircraft maintenance school in Kessler AFB Mississippi where he was asked to volunteer for a temporary assignment to Germany to support the Berlin Airlift.

On his first temporary assignment, he met a lovely German girl named Margot Coutandin, whom he married on a later full-term assignment.

Two sons were born to John and Margot. April 1, 1966, John retired from the USAF at VAFB to become a letter carrier in Lompoc for 15 years.

John is survived by his wife of more tan 67 years and two sons Johnny Townsend of Lompoc and Jim Townsend of Casa Grande, Arizona, six grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.