Studer Community Institute

“Pensacola always seemed like home to me”

February 28, 2014
/ Leon Martin
/ community-dashboard

Retired U.S. Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Darrell Bjorklund. “I was an 18-year-old farm boy from South Dakota when I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1948. I completed flight training on Corsairs here in Pensacola in 1950. There wasn't much here to offer except the beaches back then. After flight school, I changed over to the Marine Corps and was commissioned as an officer. I trained on jets in North Carolina then got my orders for Korea. I flew 80 combat missions in an F9F-2 Panther and then another 140 missions in a Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The Skyraider flew close to the ground so sometimes I would come back to the carrier with a few holes.” “In my first tour of Vietnam, I flew 130 missions in a Phantom jet over a period of a year. During my second tour, I flew another 100 plus missions. After Vietnam, I flew with the British Royal Air Force in Hawker Hunters and was stationed in England. I retired in 1978 after 30 years of service and then taught on flight simulators at Pensacola Naval Air Station. Of all of the places I have traveled to and lived, Pensacola always seemed like home to me.” General Bjorklund, spoke very modestly about this military career and never mentioned his military honors. I found out later he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions in the Korean War and was also awarded the Legion of Merit. He currently resides at Pacifica Senior Living at Carpenter's Creek. After the discussion about his career, I asked him about his family. A smile came across his face and his entire demeanor changed as he spoke in great detail about his wife of 63 years who passed away after developing Alzheimer's disease and his daughters, who invite him to their homes and visit him frequently. “My family is my proudest accomplishment,” he said. [progresspromise]

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“Pensacola always seemed like home to me”

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