The oldest-living Air Force Academy graduate checked-off his No. 1 bucket-list wish May 22: to fly with the Air Force Thunderbirds.
Retired Maj. Paul Lasen, 83, is a 1959 Academy graduate and career pilot who still flies today. By all accounts, he felt right at home in the backseat of a Thunderbird’s F-16D Fighting Falcon aircraft when the team took-off over Colorado Springs to prepare for their May 24 graduation day performance over Falcon Stadium.
“It’s an honor and privilege I never thought would be coming my way,” Lasen said. “I just hope I represented my [Academy] classmates and the pilots well.”
Lasen is from Kansas City, Kansas. He joined the Air Force in 1954 at Lackland Air Force Base where he learned...
