Tucson Rodeo Parade

Fiesta de Los Vaqueros Tucson, Arizona

2020 Parade Grand Marshalls

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This year’s Grand Marshals selected by the Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee are the World War II Veterans. We are honored to have you as our Parade Marshalls 2020.

F1/c Allen Berns, U.S. Coast Guard
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Service Dates: 1946-1947 (WWII and Occupation)
Service Duty: Served as an electrician aboard the USS Chautauqua (WPG-41) a new high endurance cutter. Patrol duty South Pacific.
Civilian Life: Established Custom Electrical Systems, Chicago

PFC Gilbert “Gil” Castro, U.S. Army
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Service Dates: 1946-1948 (WWII – Occupation)
Service Duty: 27th Infantry Division. Occupational Forces, Japan.

S/Sgt Denzel Clouse, U.S. Army
Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana
Service Dates: 1943-1945 (WWII)
Service Duty: 75th Infantry Division HQ, Western Front offensive
Civilian Life: Accountant with Hayden Flour Mills, US Treasury

Arnella Corrigan, Cadet Nurse Corps
Hometown: Smithtown, New York
Service Dates: 1944-1946 (WWII)
Service Duty: 2 years enrolled in the Nurse Corps – at Lennox Hills School of Nursing, New York, New York.
Civilian Life: Family

Sgt. Kenneth “Ken” Eckle, U.S. Army Air Forces
Hometown: Ebenezer, New York
Service Dates: 1943-1946 (WWII)
Service Duty: 22nd Army Air Forces, Presque Isle AB, Maine. Parachute rigger, Emergency equipment technician
Civilian Life: Sales (Florist), silversmith, spur maker.

Sgt. Joe Figueroa, U.S. Army Air Forces
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Service Dates: 1945-1946 (WWII)
Service Duty: Aircraft & Armament Mechanic, 5th Air Force (Japan) Air Force Reserves
Civilian Life: Aircraft engine mechanic at DMAFB. General Forman for processing aircraft into Storage including the Enola Gay.

Mailman 2/c Bernard “Red” Hollander, U.S. Navy
Hometown: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
Service Dates: 1944-1954 (WWII, Korea)
Service Duty: Commissioning USS Fall River (CA-131), Mail Clerk NS Newport, NTS San Diego, COMSERVPAC Hawaii
Civilian Life: U.S. Post Office

Cpt. Milo “Mike” Lude, U.S. Marine Corps
Hometown: Vicksburg, Michigan
Service Dates: 1942-1946 (WWII)
Service Duty: Company Commander with 1st Amphibious Group (4th Division) Maui, Hawaii.
Civilian Life: Head Football Coach (U of Delaware, CSU), Athletic Director at Kent State University, and the University of Washington.

Cpt. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Niemi, U.S. Army Air Forces (WAAC, WAC)
Hometown: Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Service Dates: 1942-1946 (WWII)
Service Duty: WAAC OCS – Ft. Des Moines; WAC Company Commander – OIC of Physical Training at the Eastern Flying Training Center, Maxwell Field, AL
Civilian Life: PE Teacher at the University of Arizona, mother, HS Teacher TUSD (20 years).

Sgt. Sam Ortega, U.S. Army Air Forces
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
Service Dates: 1943-1946 (WWII)
Service Duty: Communications with the 521st Air Service Group (2nd Air Force – Air Transport Command). Kwajalein, South Pacific.
Civilian Life: Hughes Aircraft Co.

MSgt Walter Ram, U.S. Army Air Corps
Hometown: Nogales, Arizona
Service Dates: 1940-1945 (WWII)
Service Duty: 6 combat missions B-17 Navigator (8th AF, England), 18 months as a German POW (Stalag 17B) near Krems, Austria
Civilian Life: Produce Sales & Management

Lt. Col. Thomas “Tom” Rankin, U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Air Force
Hometown: San Mateo, California
Service Dates: 1943-1945 (WWII), 1949-1967 (Occupation, Korea – Vietnam)
Service Duty: Completed 38 bombing missions over Germany as B-24 Radio Operator & gunner. (8th AF, England). Distinguished Flying Cross Award.
U.S. Air Force pilot: B-24’s (Korean War), and C-130’s (Vietnam -3 tours).
Civilian Life: Math Teacher at Pueblo HS

Tucson News Icon Guy Atchley is Named 2019 Rodeo Parade Grand Marshal

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Tucson News Icon Guy Atchley is Named

2019 Rodeo Parade Grand Marshal

 

        Guy Atchley has been a part of entertainment and news media for over 50 years.  He began his career as a disc jockey and radio news reporter at the University of Tulsa.  After graduation, he began his television career as a news reporter in Tulsa, Miami, Milwaukee, and Oklahoma City.  In 1984 he accepted a job as a news anchor for KGUN TV in Tucson and spent the next 34 years informing Southern Arizona about local events and worldwide news.       

            Since graduating from the University of Tulsa in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio/Television Speech, Atchley received more than twenty first-place awards for excellence in reporting.  He received three consecutive Associated Press awards for Best General Reporting in the state of Oklahoma.     

            During Guy’s Tucson tenure, the AP honored KGUN 9 News with the award for Best Newscast in Southern Arizona seven times. In 1992 Atchley swept the Arizona AP awards by winning three first-place honors including: Best Serious Feature, Best Light Feature, and Best General Reporting in the State. 

        Atchley also was honored for his reports on living conditions in China in the documentary “China: 1987.”  In October of 1993, Guy traveled to the Middle East for a documentary on Israel’s quest for peace. That documentary, plus Guy’s news reports and speeches to expose intolerance and bigotry, earned him the 1994 Human Relations Award presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council.

            Besides reporting from several foreign countries, Guy also traveled the United States. He has covered space shuttle launches in Florida, racial tension in the South, and immigration policies at the U.S./Mexico border. On Veterans Day of 1994, Guy reported from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

            For more than two decades, Guy spent each Labor Day as Tucson host for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. In 1991 he emceed the Tucson Welcome Home Celebration for Gulf War veterans at Arizona Stadium.

            You may have seen Guy’s cameos in several TV movies: “Jericho Fever,” the remake of “Vanishing Point,” and the independent films “Runnin’ at Midnite” and “Dark Was the Night.”  Just in case you’re wondering, Atchley played the role of a news reporter in each film.

            Guy Atchley is now retired after 34 years in Tucson at KGUN TV.  However, he’s still having fun in broadcasting, playing oldies at KGVY Radio in Green Valley.  He also is an accomplished amateur photographer and travels Arizona to document the beauty of the Grand Canyon State. In fact, Guy has received press credentials for the Rodeo Parade for the last few years and shares photos on his Facebook page.

            The Tucson Rodeo Parade Committee is proud to have Guy Atchley as the Grand Marshal of the 2019 Tucson Rodeo Parade.