Senior Airman John Spence

Senior Airman John Spence served in the United States Air Force for seven years from 1989 to 1996. What began as a love of airplanes from the time he “knew what they were” developed into a career that originated with Spence working as a mechanic with the U.S. military. He worked on F-16s during Desert Storm and Operation Southern Watch, a period of time that SrA Spence remembers as perhaps the most patriotic years our country has experienced in his lifetime. During his military career, Spence also flew as a part of the 9th Air Force Air Demonstration Team, promoting the Air Force in airshows around the country. Currently, he is employed with Southwest Airlines as an aircraft mechanic, still able to work closely with the planes he loves so much, and resides in Forney, Texas.

John’s years in the Air Force were an impressionable time for him. Having grown up in the small East Texas town of Edgewood, living military life firsthand was quite the change for him. He said he was able to meet people from all walks of life, and those same folks became part of his family. “You worked, lived, and carried guns with these guys,” he said. He went on to recall how the differences between them went unnoticed because of the time and circumstances spent together. The color of someone’s skin or their religious background was not as prominent in his mind; rather, these were his brothers and that was what mattered.

Coming from a family of servicemen, Spence said the decision to serve our country came naturally to him. A deep love for the United States developed as he grew up hearing stories of his grandfather and father both serving in the armed forces, and Spence knew he wanted to carry on that legacy. His pride of country is still “off the charts”, as he says, and one of his main desires is that all Americans could share that same feeling. “My hope is that people can be proud to be an American,” he shared. “But without having to go through a war or terror attack to experience it.”

Senior Airman Spence has accomplished many things throughout the years, and at the top of that list is the beautiful life that he and his wife Lynnette have built. Together they have raised five daughters, Morgan, Bailey, Caroline, Caiti, and Miley, and John could not be prouder of them. Even as his pride in his family overflows, Spence added, “I am more proud that I served my country than almost anything I’ve done in my life.”