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James E. McNulla III
11/7/2023
James E. McNulla III, First Company, Class of 1958.
Born 5 March 1933 in Vergennes, Vermont of Kathleen Norton McNulla and James E. McNulla II. He was the oldest of nine children, two brothers, Patric and John; six sisters, Mary, Barbara, Kathleen, June, Susan, and Nancy. The three McNulla brothers spent over 75 years in the Military during the period of the Korean, the Vietnam, and the Cold War.
He married Sally Bristol in Vergennes on 14 June 1958. They had a military wedding with eight of his classmates from USNA as the sword bearers. They had four children, James IV, Jeffery, Deborah, and Suzanne. He has five grandchildren, Ryan McNulla, Jaguar Khatchi, Amy McNulla, Allison McNulla, and James E. McNulla V. He was predeceased by his son James(2004), sister Barbara(2011), brother Patric(2016), brother John(2022), sister Kathleen(2023).
He graduated from Vergennes High School in 1951. He attended one year at the University of Vermont. He enlisted in the United States Navy Reserves in 1951, and in 1954 he was nominated to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD from the Naval Reserves and graduated in June 1958. He went to Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, FL after graduation and received his Naval Aviator Wings in December 1959. During his career he attended the Naval Post-Graduate School, the Naval War College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and taught at the Untied States Naval Academy. He received the Legion of Merit for his contributions to the Airborne Anti-Submarine hunting capability of the Navy, Naval Expeditionary Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal (2), Armed Service Expeditionary Medal (2), Vietnam Service Medal (4), Rep of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Sea Service Medal. During his career he flew out of Spain, Italy, Frances, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the Azores, Malta, Greece, Libya, Philippines, Cuba, and throughout the Caribbean and Mediterranean. He was attached to three Patrol Squadrons (Commanded VP-56), two ships, USS Yorktown, USS Kearsarge, and NAVMAT, BUPERS, ASWSYS, and OPNAV-98 in the Pentagon. He flew surveillance flights out of Gitmo during the Cuban missile crisis and was on the USS Kearsarge in the Sea of Japan during the USS Pueblo crisis. He retired from the Navy as a Captain in Sept 1985. He was a ASW consultant for two years in the Washington area and worked at Sparton Electronics (DeLand, FL) for 12 years where he retired as the Vice-President for Government Programs. During his life the family lived in Pensacola, FL; Norfolk, VA; Brunswick, Maine; Monterrey, CA; Annapolis, MD; Long Beach, CA; Portsmouth, RI; Alexandra, VA (2); Jacksonville, FL (2); and DeLand, FL where in 1999 he and Sally retired to play golf at Hilton Head Island, each year for many years. He will be buried in Prospect Cemetery, Vergennes, Vermont where his Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother, and his son James E. IV are buried.