Colonel A. J. "Bo" Baker (1930-1980) He was a 1949 graduate of Searcy High School and attended the University of Arkansas September 1949 - December 1950 on an athletic scholarship. He was a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks football team.

Maurice Lee "Footsie" Britt (1919-1995) Born in Carlisle, Arkansas on June 29, 1919 and raised in nearby Lonoke. He attended the University of Arkansas, graduating in 1941 after enjoying a successful college athletic career in both basketball (1939) and football (1938-40).  After one season of playing professional football with the Detroit Lions (1941), Britt was called to active duty in the United States Army in December, 1941. As a platoon commander in the Third Infantry Division, Britt took part in the African, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns.  He was seriously wounded on February 12, 1944, loosing his right arm and for his battlefield exploits Britt won numerous decorations including the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was the first soldier to be decorated with the nation's three highest honors in a single war. Following a peacetime career in manufacturing, Britt ran a successful campaign for lieutenant governor of Arkansas in 1966, an office he held until 1970. He became the first Republican lieutenant governor in Arkansas since Reconstruction. Afterwards he accepted a position as District Director of the Small Business Administration, 1971-1985, and made an unsuccessful bid for governor in 1986. 

Tom Glaze -- Arkansas Supreme Court Justice

Lettered for the Arkansas Razorback baseball team in 1958 and 1959.

Date of Election or Appointment to Current Position: 1987
Education: B.S., Business Administration, University of Arkansas (1960); L.L.B., University of Arkansas School of Law (1964); National Judicial College (1978); The American Academy of Judicial Education (1983); National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Faculty Training Conference (1985)
Law-Related Employment: Private Law Practice, and Chairman, The Election Laws Institute, Inc. (1970-78); Assistant and Deputy Attorney General, Arkansas Attorney General's Office (1967-78); Staff Attorney, Pulaski County Legal Aid (1966-67); Legal Advisor and Office Manager, Winthrop Rockefeller (1965-66); Executive Director, Election Research Council, Inc. (1965)
Law Practice or Teaching Areas: Lecturer, University of Arkansas at Little Rock (1971, 1972, 1979, 1980); Lecturer, University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law (1981, 1982, 1985, 1987)
Prior Judicial Experience: Judge for the Arkansas Court of Appeals (1981-86); Chancellor, Sixth Judicial District, Third Division (1979-1980)

Nathan Green Gordon (1916-) Gordon was born in Morrilton in 1916. He attended Columbia (Tennessee) Military Academy, Arkansas Tech in Russellville, and the University of Arkansas, graduating in 1939 with a JD degree and lettering in football in 1936 & 1937. He returned to Morrilton to practice law and enlisted in the Naval Air Corps in 1941. After service in the Pacific, he was released to inactive duty in 1945, returned to his law practice (now in partnership with his brother, Edward Gordon, Jr.) and was elected Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in 1946. He was reelected ten times, serving a total of twenty years.

While in the Navy, Gordon was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses, six Air Medals, and the Congressional Medal of Honor. The Medal of Honor was for his rescue, under enemy fire, of fifteen downed fliers at Kavieng, New Ireland, in the south Pacific.

Nathan Gordon is one of only 6 naval aviators to be awarded the Medal of Honor during World War II, and the only Arkansan to receive the medal for participating in air combat against the enemy.

Black Cats over Kavieng: Honoring Medal of Honor Recipient Nathan Gordon

Nathan G. Gordon Tells His Story

Lieutenant General Norman H. Smith Norman attended the University of Arkansas on a basketball scholarship and received a degree in Physical Education in 1955. Following completion of the Officers Candidate Course at the Quantico, Virginia, Marine Base, he was commissioned a second lieutenant. As a lieutenant and captain, he served in the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions as a company commander and as the executive officer of the Marine Detachment aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Hancock. In July 1965 he was an advisor to a Vietnamese army battalion and in 1966 he became the Marine Officer Instructor at the ROTC Unit at The Ohio State University and also earned a master's in physiology. He returned to Vietnam from 1970 to 1971 as the executive officer to a Marine Infantry Battalion and then became its commanding officer. After his second Vietnam tour he attended the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, from which he graduated with honors in 1972.

He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and reported to the Marine Reserve Infantry Battalion in Cleveland for duty as the Inspector Instructor. In 1976, Smith graduated with distinction from the Air War College in Montgomery, Ala. His next duty was with the Plans Division of Headquarters, Marine Corps, and Washington DC, where he was promoted to colonel and served in various billets. Col. Smith was then appointed Fleet Marine Officer to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. In 1982, he was promoted to the rank of Brig. General and assigned to the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, NC as the Asst. Div. Commander. A brigade command followed as the Commanding General of the 4th Marine Amphibious Brigade, Norfolk, Va. In 1984 Brig. Gen. Smith became the first Marine general assigned to a NATO staff in Oslo, Norway. Following this tour of duty, and promotion to Maj. General he was assigned to the Atlantic Command in Norfolk, VA, serving as the plans officer and chief of staff. In 1987, he became the Commanding General of the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, the 3rd Marine Division and the Marine Corps Bases in Japan. While in Japan he was promoted to Lt. General. In 1989, he returned to Headquarters, Marine Corps, Washington, D.C., where he served as deputy chief of staff, Manpower and Reserve Affairs until his retirement on Aug. 1, 1991.

Smith's service decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with a gold star, Bronze Star Medal with a Combat "V" and gold star, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Citation; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with a bronze star, Vietnam Service Medal with four Bronze Stars, Sea Deployment Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with silver star, Vietnamese Staff Service Honor Medal, Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Order of the Rising Sun with Gold Rays.

Sergeant Oliver 'Ott' Young (1919-1945) Ott was a member of the UA basketball team in 1941 and 1942. He withdrew from school about eight weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (World War II) and volunteered for the Army. Ott was killed in action on February 3, 1945 on Luzon Island in the Philippines, but not before earning two silver stars, one bronze star and the purple heart. He was a member of the 24th Infantry Division under General Douglas MacArthur.

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Last updated 11-5-08