Raymond Lester collection

Collection — Container: Single Folder Collections - 1999 Box 13 (99.0280-99.0299), Folder: 99.0283 - Folder 1

Identifier: 99.0283

Staff Only

Content Description

This collection contains a series of documents pertaining to Colonel Raymond Lester and his wife Eunice E. Barrett. The collection contains Raymond Lester's Retirement Order from Lockbourne Air Force Base and a Report of Discharge from his service in the Air Force. There is also as a letter of gratitude from the Office of the Commander when he retired from the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Corp as a pilot in World War II. Also included in the collection is a Certificate of Service and Report of Separation document for Eunice Barrett, from her time in the Army.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1942-1967
Other: Date accessioned: 1999-07-19

Creator

Lester, Raymond N., 1919 - 2002 (Person)
Barrett, Eunice E., 1918-2011 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical / Historical

Colonel Raymond Lester was born on March 7, 1919 in Attapulgus, Georgia. He lived in Gadsden and Decatur counties all his civilian life. He died September 5, 2002, and is buried at the Old Philadelphia Church Cementary in Quincy, Florida. He attended the University of Florida for one year before leaving in 1941 to Canada to join the Royal Canadian Air Force as a pilot. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corp as a pilot and served in World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War, before he retired in 1967. He was part of the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing. Lester received many honors including the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star (Korea) and the King George VI Medal. Lester married Eunice Barrett, a Registered Nurse in the Army Air Corps. She was stationed at Westover Air Field in Massachusetts, where they met. After being honorably discharged as a 1st Lieutenant, she traveled to Clovis, New Mexico and they were married six weeks from the time they met. She traded in her professional nursing career by eventually caring for their four children.

Extent

1 folders

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This collection was gifted by Raymond Lester.

Subjects

Army Air Forces Specialized Pilot School (Lockbourne Army Air Base, Ohio)
Military Discharge--United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Ohio Subject Source: Lcnaf
Quincy (Fla.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Retirement Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
United States. Air Force--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
United States. Army--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Westover Air Force Base (Mass.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings