LOLO, Mont. – (AP) One of the first African-American graduates of the Air Force Academy has died.
The academy says Charles Vernon Bush of the class of 1963 died Monday, Nov. 5, at his home in Lolo, Mont. His wife says he died at age 72 after suffering from colon cancer.
Bush received a master's degree in international relations from Georgetown University in 1964 before attending air intelligence officers school and serving at Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
Bush, who spoke Russian and Vietnamese, was assigned to Vietnam in 1967 as an intelligence officer. After returning to the U.S. in 1968, he was assigned to Headquarters Air Force Special Projects Production Facility at Westover as chief of the technical analysis division.
The Harvard Business School graduate also was an executive at companies including Hughes Electronics Corp.