Major General James I. "Bagger" Baginski (Retired USAF), 81, of Wildwood MO., passed away at home on September 23, 2013.
He was born in Baltimore, MD, in 1932. He graduated from The University of Maryland in 1954. General Baginski earned a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in February 1954 and entered active duty in April 1954. He attended flying training at Stallings Field, N.C. and Webb Air Force Base, Texas. He was a command pilot, flying C-119s and C-130As, with more than 5000 flying hours.
In August 1966 General Baginski left for the Republic of Vietnam as a tactical airlift liaison officer with the 1st Cavalry (Air Mobile) Division at An Khe. In July 1971 he was the deputy chief of operations, 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Norton Air Force Base, Calif. and in May 1972 became vice commander. In May 1973 he took command of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan.
In February 1975 the general went to U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield Thailand, for duty as the Southeast Asia airlift commander in charge of project SCOOT-CE. After the fall of Cambodia, he moved to Saigon and when that city was evacuated was assigned to Clark Air Base, Philippines, in May 1975.
Reassigned to Military Airlift Command headquarters in September 1975, General Baginski served initially as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. In June 1977 he was named deputy chief of staff for personnel and in March 1979 became the command's deputy chief of staff for operations. He retired out of MacDill AFB in 1984, as the director of the Joint Deployment Agency.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal. He was a recipient of the Order of the Sword.
General Baginski and his wife moved to Branchville, New Jersey after his military retirement where he pursued a consulting career in the defense industry, augmented by an occasional round of golf and maintenance duties for their equestrian facility, PasTime Farm, on Haggerty road. General Baginski was also a member of the Sussex County Horse Show Committee for the New Jersey State Fair.
He is survived by his loving family, his wife, Nancy A. (Boyd) Baginski, a daughter, Teresa M. Ruch and her husband Richard of Wantage, NJ, a daughter Susan M. Baginski, of Wildwood, MO, a son, David J. Baginski of Ballwin, MO, a son, Paul A. Baginski, of Centreville, VA, a daughter, Amy L. Dodds and her husband Mark, of O'Fallon, MO, his grandchildren, Rachael Hernandez and her husband, David, Laura Baginski, Patrick Baginski, and Will Baginski, his step-grandchildren, Rhonda Moritz, Richard Ruch, Jr. and Heather Gardinier, his sister Genevieve Rafferty and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be at Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ. on Saturday, September 28, 2013. Visitation will be from 10:00 - 12:00; followed by a service and interment at Frankford Plains Cemetery, Frankford, NJ.
The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to the Airlift/Tanker Association Scholarship Fund. Send your donations to: Treasurer, Airlift-Tanker Association, 108 Sanctuary Cove, Yorktown, VA 23693. In the memo block left of the signature write: In memory of The Bagger.
Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ.
He was born in Baltimore, MD, in 1932. He graduated from The University of Maryland in 1954. General Baginski earned a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in February 1954 and entered active duty in April 1954. He attended flying training at Stallings Field, N.C. and Webb Air Force Base, Texas. He was a command pilot, flying C-119s and C-130As, with more than 5000 flying hours.
In August 1966 General Baginski left for the Republic of Vietnam as a tactical airlift liaison officer with the 1st Cavalry (Air Mobile) Division at An Khe. In July 1971 he was the deputy chief of operations, 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Norton Air Force Base, Calif. and in May 1972 became vice commander. In May 1973 he took command of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan.
In February 1975 the general went to U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield Thailand, for duty as the Southeast Asia airlift commander in charge of project SCOOT-CE. After the fall of Cambodia, he moved to Saigon and when that city was evacuated was assigned to Clark Air Base, Philippines, in May 1975.
Reassigned to Military Airlift Command headquarters in September 1975, General Baginski served initially as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. In June 1977 he was named deputy chief of staff for personnel and in March 1979 became the command's deputy chief of staff for operations. He retired out of MacDill AFB in 1984, as the director of the Joint Deployment Agency.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal. He was a recipient of the Order of the Sword.
General Baginski and his wife moved to Branchville, New Jersey after his military retirement where he pursued a consulting career in the defense industry, augmented by an occasional round of golf and maintenance duties for their equestrian facility, PasTime Farm, on Haggerty road. General Baginski was also a member of the Sussex County Horse Show Committee for the New Jersey State Fair.
He is survived by his loving family, his wife, Nancy A. (Boyd) Baginski, a daughter, Teresa M. Ruch and her husband Richard of Wantage, NJ, a daughter Susan M. Baginski, of Wildwood, MO, a son, David J. Baginski of Ballwin, MO, a son, Paul A. Baginski, of Centreville, VA, a daughter, Amy L. Dodds and her husband Mark, of O'Fallon, MO, his grandchildren, Rachael Hernandez and her husband, David, Laura Baginski, Patrick Baginski, and Will Baginski, his step-grandchildren, Rhonda Moritz, Richard Ruch, Jr. and Heather Gardinier, his sister Genevieve Rafferty and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be at Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ. on Saturday, September 28, 2013. Visitation will be from 10:00 - 12:00; followed by a service and interment at Frankford Plains Cemetery, Frankford, NJ.
The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to the Airlift/Tanker Association Scholarship Fund. Send your donations to: Treasurer, Airlift-Tanker Association, 108 Sanctuary Cove, Yorktown, VA 23693. In the memo block left of the signature write: In memory of The Bagger.
Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ.
Major General James I. "Bagger" Baginski (Retired USAF), 81, of Wildwood MO., passed away at home on September 23, 2013.
He was born in Baltimore, MD, in 1932. He graduated from The University of Maryland in 1954. General Baginski earned a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in February 1954 and entered active duty in April 1954. He attended flying training at Stallings Field, N.C. and Webb Air Force Base, Texas. He was a command pilot, flying C-119s and C-130As, with more than 5000 flying hours.
In August 1966 General Baginski left for the Republic of Vietnam as a tactical airlift liaison officer with the 1st Cavalry (Air Mobile) Division at An Khe. In July 1971 he was the deputy chief of operations, 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Norton Air Force Base, Calif. and in May 1972 became vice commander. In May 1973 he took command of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan.
In February 1975 the general went to U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield Thailand, for duty as the Southeast Asia airlift commander in charge of project SCOOT-CE. After the fall of Cambodia, he moved to Saigon and when that city was evacuated was assigned to Clark Air Base, Philippines, in May 1975.
Reassigned to Military Airlift Command headquarters in September 1975, General Baginski served initially as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. In June 1977 he was named deputy chief of staff for personnel and in March 1979 became the command's deputy chief of staff for operations. He retired out of MacDill AFB in 1984, as the director of the Joint Deployment Agency.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal. He was a recipient of the Order of the Sword.
General Baginski and his wife moved to Branchville, New Jersey after his military retirement where he pursued a consulting career in the defense industry, augmented by an occasional round of golf and maintenance duties for their equestrian facility, PasTime Farm, on Haggerty road. General Baginski was also a member of the Sussex County Horse Show Committee for the New Jersey State Fair.
He is survived by his loving family, his wife, Nancy A. (Boyd) Baginski, a daughter, Teresa M. Ruch and her husband Richard of Wantage, NJ, a daughter Susan M. Baginski, of Wildwood, MO, a son, David J. Baginski of Ballwin, MO, a son, Paul A. Baginski, of Centreville, VA, a daughter, Amy L. Dodds and her husband Mark, of O'Fallon, MO, his grandchildren, Rachael Hernandez and her husband, David, Laura Baginski, Patrick Baginski, and Will Baginski, his step-grandchildren, Rhonda Moritz, Richard Ruch, Jr. and Heather Gardinier, his sister Genevieve Rafferty and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be at Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ. on Saturday, September 28, 2013. Visitation will be from 10:00 - 12:00; followed by a service and interment at Frankford Plains Cemetery, Frankford, NJ.
The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to the Airlift/Tanker Association Scholarship Fund. Send your donations to: Treasurer, Airlift-Tanker Association, 108 Sanctuary Cove, Yorktown, VA 23693. In the memo block left of the signature write: In memory of The Bagger.
Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ.
He was born in Baltimore, MD, in 1932. He graduated from The University of Maryland in 1954. General Baginski earned a master's degree in public administration from George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and was a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama and the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program in February 1954 and entered active duty in April 1954. He attended flying training at Stallings Field, N.C. and Webb Air Force Base, Texas. He was a command pilot, flying C-119s and C-130As, with more than 5000 flying hours.
In August 1966 General Baginski left for the Republic of Vietnam as a tactical airlift liaison officer with the 1st Cavalry (Air Mobile) Division at An Khe. In July 1971 he was the deputy chief of operations, 63rd Military Airlift Wing, Norton Air Force Base, Calif. and in May 1972 became vice commander. In May 1973 he took command of the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan.
In February 1975 the general went to U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield Thailand, for duty as the Southeast Asia airlift commander in charge of project SCOOT-CE. After the fall of Cambodia, he moved to Saigon and when that city was evacuated was assigned to Clark Air Base, Philippines, in May 1975.
Reassigned to Military Airlift Command headquarters in September 1975, General Baginski served initially as assistant deputy chief of staff for operations. In June 1977 he was named deputy chief of staff for personnel and in March 1979 became the command's deputy chief of staff for operations. He retired out of MacDill AFB in 1984, as the director of the Joint Deployment Agency.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Army Commendation Medal. He was a recipient of the Order of the Sword.
General Baginski and his wife moved to Branchville, New Jersey after his military retirement where he pursued a consulting career in the defense industry, augmented by an occasional round of golf and maintenance duties for their equestrian facility, PasTime Farm, on Haggerty road. General Baginski was also a member of the Sussex County Horse Show Committee for the New Jersey State Fair.
He is survived by his loving family, his wife, Nancy A. (Boyd) Baginski, a daughter, Teresa M. Ruch and her husband Richard of Wantage, NJ, a daughter Susan M. Baginski, of Wildwood, MO, a son, David J. Baginski of Ballwin, MO, a son, Paul A. Baginski, of Centreville, VA, a daughter, Amy L. Dodds and her husband Mark, of O'Fallon, MO, his grandchildren, Rachael Hernandez and her husband, David, Laura Baginski, Patrick Baginski, and Will Baginski, his step-grandchildren, Rhonda Moritz, Richard Ruch, Jr. and Heather Gardinier, his sister Genevieve Rafferty and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral Services will be at Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ. on Saturday, September 28, 2013. Visitation will be from 10:00 - 12:00; followed by a service and interment at Frankford Plains Cemetery, Frankford, NJ.
The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to the Airlift/Tanker Association Scholarship Fund. Send your donations to: Treasurer, Airlift-Tanker Association, 108 Sanctuary Cove, Yorktown, VA 23693. In the memo block left of the signature write: In memory of The Bagger.
Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, Newton, NJ.
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