03/18/2024
We have had the pleasure of working with the General, board of directors and staff of the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford, OK for several years. We will continue to ensure that your story is told General. God speed and Fly West, Sir.
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr
It is with great sadness that the Stafford Air & Space Museum announces the passing of its namesake, Lt. General Thomas P. Stafford (USAF, ret.). General Stafford passed away on March 18, 2024 in Indian Harbor, Florida. General Stafford was 93.
Thomas Patten Stafford was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma on September 17, 1930, to Thomas and Mary (Patten) Stafford. He was raised in the western Oklahoma community of Weatherford and never forgot his roots; he was a proud “Weatherford Eagle” to the end. He often credited his hometown as the foundation for the incredible life and career that unfolded for him.
A special tribute section will be featured in the Tuesday edition of the Weatherford Daily News.
