WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Born on a farm in Oklahoma, Vernon Maddux dreamed of flying through the skies and being among the best to do it. And he did.
Maddux was selected for Navy Fighter Weapons School, or Top Gun, while also serving three different combat tours to Vietnam in the early 1970s.
After graduating from Southwestern State University in Oklahoma, Maddux joined the Marines through the officer training program in 1966. He learned to fly in a “Bug Smasher” at flight school in Pensacola, Florida. Then he trained on how to fly his first fighter jet, a F-4 Phantom.
After receiving his wings in August 1967, Major Maddux completed his first combat deployment to Vietnam with VMFA-122 and VMFA-314 from June 1968 through July 1969.
“We lost one airplane that didn’t pull out of its dive, and we went there and found the guy’s helmet,” said Maddux.
When he returned to the States, Maddux was sent to Top Gun school in San Diego.
“I was selected to go there as a student, and I was selected to go as an instructor,” he said.