Page 74 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2023 - Online Magazine

Dr. Barent
(Barry) McCool
Barry, Audrey, Willie, and Kirstie Vietnam was still being fought.
he McCool name is familiar
to most of us and instills
Tsober and grateful pride
as we remember our hometown
hero, Commander Willie McCool,
pilot of the Space Shuttle
Columbia.
The backstory is both
entertaining and inspiring.
McCool is Gaelic for “warrior,”
a fitting name for this family of
military veterans. First Class
Petty Officer Burdette McCool
served in the Navy in WWII. As
a military Tech Rep, he moved
his family from base to base to
base. His marriage failed, and
his young son Barent found
himself in trouble more often
than not. After watching The
Sands of Iwo Jima, he dropped
out of high school and enlisted
in the Marines in 1965. He was
sent to Parris Island, SC for basic
training and, shortly thereafter,
74 Lubbock Senior Link
From High School
Dropout to Ph.D.
by Jane Bromley
to Southeast Asia and combat in
South Vietnam.
PFC McCool participated in
over 26 combat operations at
Con Thien, Gio Linh, Khe Sanh,
Da Nang, Hué, and Quang Tri,
among others. On his first combat
tour (1965-67), the Marines
were primarily ground forces
fighting untrained, unorganized
Viet Cong. After two years,
the 20-year-old came back to
the states as a Corporal (E4)
assigned to the Marine Corps
Supply Center in Albany, GA.
“Even though I was promoted
to Sergeant (E5), I hated being a
Marine stateside while the war in
After six months, I signed a
waiver to return to combat. Three
weeks later, I was on a chopper,
landing under fire at the USMC
base Khe Sanh. The fighting was
more intense because we faced
the North Vietnamese Army who
were better trained and better
equipped than the Viet Cong.”
In July 1969, he returned
stateside to Camp Pendleton
where he met Audrey, whom he
married. She was a single mom,
raising 7-year-old
Willie and 4-year-old
Kirstie. “I went from
being a 24-year-old
Marine sergeant to a
father of two!”
The new family lived
in Encinitas, CA.
Audrey did not relish
being married to a
high school dropout;
so, Barry enrolled at First tour in Vietnam (USMC)
Palomar Community
College and later transferred to
San Diego State College. “My
father had not been a great role
model, but I was determined to
be a good dad. I got Willie into
T-ball, Peewee Football, and Cub
Scouts and tried my best to care
for Kirstie. Our son Shawn was
born in 1971.”
Audrey received an offer from
Saint Mary’s Hospital in Duluth,
MN, so Barry transferred to
the College of Saint Scholastica
where he was part of the first
integrated class of men and
women. Barry graduated in 1973.
He was working on his masters
when the military, seeking new
officers to replace Vietnam
combat losses, actively recruited
him. After talking it over with his
family, he decided that returning
to the military was the best career
path for him and the family.
Barry went to Pensacola for
Aviator Officer Candidate School.
Upon being commissioned as an
Ensign (O-1), he began training
as a Naval Flight Officer. After
receiving his “Navy Wings of
Gold,” he was trained for C-130Q
aircraft and assigned to VQ-3 and