Timmie Joe Ward

Timmie Joe Ward grew up in Rockford and graduated from Rockford High School. Later he received a Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State College and a Master’s Degree from the Air Force University in Dayton, OH. He served in the Air Force for over ten years. CAPT Ward was a co-pilot of a C-130 cargo plane when it was shot down during takeoff on August 12, 1972 in the Ba Xugen Province, South Vietnam. Ward was 29 years old at the time of his death. He left behind a wife, a daughter, and a son. Thirteen other Americans died in the incident. His body was buried at the Riverside Cemetery in Rockford.