CLOVIS – Charles Wood flew for his enjoyment for nearly half a century as a model airplane enthusiast. And he flew for his country with 20 years in the Air Force.
The former, he could discuss for hours on end at the Main Street hobby shop he owned for years. The latter, good luck getting a word out of him.
“He never embellished,” friend Michael Braun said of Wood’s two tours in Vietnam. “You really had to work at it to get him to talk about it. He wasn’t like some of the fighter jocks who would just live their lives over and over. Chuck Wood was a true American hero to me.”
Wood, who also taught at various local schools, died Nov. 14 after 19 days of treatment for COVID-19.
Born Dec. 18, 1934 in Rockport, Massachusetts, Wood’s interest in flying took him into the Air Force – and, by proxy, across the nation and world.
One of his worst flights, an F-100 crash, actually turned into a…
