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Passed away at home at the age of 91 on Saturday, November 20, 2010 in Santa Rosa. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Vinetta Swisher of Santa Rosa; preceded in death by his daughter, Karen Swisher Gray (2006); three grandchildren, Kathleen Gray McCarthy of Mill Valley, David C. Gray of San Francisco and Thomas R. Gray of Washington, D.C.; and great grandson, John McCarthy. William was a veteran of the U.S. Army (1942-1945), World War II and (1950-1952) Korean Conflict. He was the owner/operator of Valley Farm Supply in Santa Maria for 18 years. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, the Wild Oak Saddle Club and a past member of Rotary, Santa Rosa. No services will be held. Memorial donations may be made to the charity of your choice. SANTA ROSA MORTUARY EGGEN & LANCE CHAPEL, 545-3747
Published in the Press Democrat from November 23 to November 24, 2010
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 The 510th Fighter Squadron, the Buzzards, one of two F-16 squadrons based at Aviano AB in Italy, deployed to Bagram AB in Afghanistan from May through October 2010 for a scheduled Air Expeditionary Force rotation. The deployment marked the one-year anniversary for US F-16s in Afghanistan. The US forces replaced F-16 units from Belgium and the Netherlands, which began operating in Afghanistan in late 2004. Norway also sent F-16s to the theater beginning in 2006.
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Robert E. Erickson 1921~2010 Colonel USAF Retired, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, passed away in Mesa, Arizona on March 10th, 2010. Bob was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on Jan 21,1921 to Robert T. and Marie Erickson. He graduated from South High School and attended BYU and the University of Utah where he played football and basketball.
Bob enlisted in the U.S.A.A.C., graduating in class 43D. He was sent to England to fly P-38s and P-51s. He had four and half confirmed and 12 probable enemy aircraft. He survived three shoot downs. Bob was the commander of the 510th Fighter Squadron, on October 1st, 1966. Bob made a career in the USAF for almost 34 years through World War II, Korea and Vietnam, flying most of the fighters of his time with almost 9000 hours of flight time. Bob retired in 1975 with the rank of Colonel.
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510th Fighter Squadron Viper Driver Capt. Nathan "Hoss" Harrold takes us on a tour of his office. Visit www.510fs.org for more information about the "Buzzards!"
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 by Staff Sgt. Julius Delos Reyes
31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
10/12/2010 - AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy (AFNS) -- He was anxious; excited actually. He gazed at the crowd across the tarmac looking for someone familiar, his wife, and someone he had never met, his baby girl. He had seen the baby only through photos and webcam.
Then, he found them. He looked at his now four-month-old baby for the first time in person, and she smiled at him.
"Seeing her for the first time, I don't know how to describe it," said 1st Lt. William Whiddon, the 510th Fighter Squadron intelligence officer in charge. "I've seen her on the video and pictures but it's not the same as holding her, seeing her personality and facial expressions."
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 by Tech. Sgt. Drew Nystrom
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
10/4/2010 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Airmen from the 510th Fighter Squadron here employed a guided bomb unit-54 laser joint directed attack munition for the first time in the Afghan area of operations recently.
The GBU-54 is the Air Force's newest 500-pound precision weapon, equipped with a special targeting system that uses a combination of Global Positioning System and laser guidance to accurately engage and destroy moving targets.
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