#FlashbackFriday: Going for the Gold With Olympics Connections in Exchange History

With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games scheduled to start today, Flashback Friday decided to see what Olympic connections the Exchange has in its history. Here’s some of what we found in Exchange Post archives going back to 1955.

Maj. Gen. Jonathan R. Burton, Exchange deputy commander from 1972 to 1973 (when he was a brigadier general), was a member of the U.S. Army Olympics Equestrian Team that participated in the London Olympics in 1948 and the Stockholm Olympics in 1956. Burton, who served in World War II and in Vietnam, was a lifelong horse lover who went on to manage the 1976 U.S. Olympic equestrian team. He died in 2019 at age 99.

A view of the Olympic Stadium for the 1972 Summer Games in Munich. The European Exchange System set up a vending facility to serve troops in billeting facilities north of the city, as well as a quick-serve cafeteria in the Community Center and a barber shop and other amenities for about 3,000 troops in Eastman Barracks lodging.

David Gilman, son of March AFB service station salesclerk Nannie L. Gilman, competed in the one-man kayak event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Gilman, who also competed in kayaking in the 1984 Summer Olympics and luge in the 1984 Winter Olympics, is one of only two U.S. athletes who has competed in two sports at the Olympic Games.

CPT Nick Roehr, a Public Affairs associate, created this illustration of 1984 Olympic gold medalists who were in the military. Roehr designed the illustration in 1988 after the 3M Company, a sponsor of the ’88 Games, offered space on the back of an advertising insert planned for an Exchange flyer. Roehr worked with photos provided by Olympics staff and spent a day at the Dallas Public Library researching Olympics history to gain inspiration.

Tom Conway, who wrote and directed Exchange radio and TV productions, produced a series of “Military Olympic Minutes” for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Conway and associates Bob Carreras, John Ormbrek and Kirk Anderson spent about three months traveling the country to film a dozen 60-second videos that aired before and during AFRTS Olympics coverage, as well as producing four 30-second spots highlighting military gold medalists who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Exchange vendor representatives apply makeup to American Forces Korean Network broadcasters covering the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. “Our Olympic coverage called for moving from our studio on post to the International Broadcast Center in downtown Seoul,” said AFKN Program Director Master Sgt. Larry Wilson. “When we did so, we ended up in a modern, professionally lighted studio. It was immediately apparent that our on-camera personnel needed professional makeup.” Elizabeth Arden representative Kye Schultz, far left, and Revlon’s Jin Joo Williams, far right, immediately volunteered to help. “Even though we were not [directly] involved, by helping the people who were covering the games, we felt like we were somehow involved in making the Olympics a success,” Williams said. That really meant a lot to us.”

Erich Buljung, husband of West Georgia Area Operations Clerk Sunny Buljung, won a silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Buljung, who served in the Army for more than 25 years (often as a shooting instructor at Fort Benning, now Fort Moore), was a Vietnam Veteran who also competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Also:

• Larry Myricks, son-in-law of Geneva Rhone, a reorder associate at the George AFB Exchange, won a bronze medal in the long jump at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Myricks also made the U.S. Olympics team in 1976 and 1984, as well as the team that did not compete in the 1980 Summer Olympics.
• Air Force Cpt. William “Bill” White III, son of Peterson AFB Exchange department supervisor Virginia White and Mather AFB Exchange safety and security specialists William White Jr., competed on the U.S. bobsled team in the 1988 Winter Olympics. The team finished fourth, just out of the running for a medal.

During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the Exchange supported nearly 10,000 troops deployed to Joint Task Force – Olympics to provide security for the Games. Operating under the Fort McPherson Exchange, associates opened a PX, barber shop, laundry and food outlets for the troops providing security for the games. Video games and free movies were also provided for the active-duty, reserve and National Guard troops who supported the Games. Retail sales topped $1.1 million, and services/vending sales exceeded $130,000. The hottest sellers were official Joint Task Force Olympics Pins – more than 13,000 were sold.

Harold “Bubba” Dennis Jr., right, was selected to run in the Olympic Torch Relay for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. When he was 14 years old, Dennis—shown with his father, Fort Knox Custodial Foreman Harold Dennis Sr.—was severely burned in a 1988 bus crash that killed 27 people. He went on to become a Kentucky All-State high school athlete in soccer and track, to play wide receiver for the University of Kentucky Wildcats and to become a licensed physician assistant. He appeared on CBS This Morning and several other TV shows, and in magazines such as People and Sports Illustrated. A 2017 documentary about the bus wreck, “Impact After the Crash,” is available on YouTube.

Also: Townsend Saunders Jr., son of Fort Huachuca cashier-checker supervisor Martha Saunders, was a silver-medal winner in lightweight freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Games. Townsend also competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

In 2002, dozens of Exchange associates deployed to Utah to serve troops who were providing security for the Winter Games at Salt Lake City. More than 7,000 key personnel, including 5,000 National Guard members from 18 states, received Exchange support. Associates at the Hill AFB AutoPride were responsible for setting up Tactical Field Exchanges (TFEs), which were set up in a former hospital gift shop, large warehouses with trailers, an empty dining facility and an area about the size of a large walk-in closet.