2 | Saturday, November 9, 2024
HONORING OUR VETERANS
Nebraska native flies B-1B Lancer over Memorial Stadium Multigenerational Air Force family proud of Omaha native
Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla- homa, in 2019, then was selected to fly the B-1B Lancer bomber in 2020. Cecil Paul Duryea, who went by Paul, attended and later taught at the same flight school during his Air Force career, Peter Duryea said, af- ter getting an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Most of Durham’s relatives are also graduates of UNL, although Durham is not. Though he never fought in war zones, Polly Duryea, Durham’s grand- mother and Paul Duryea’s self-de- scribed “Air Force wife,” said her hus- band did get deployed during both the Korean and Vietnam wars. His father, also named Cecil Paul, was a private pilot during World War I, and his two brothers also served in the Air Force. “I was happy that she picked that as a career, and believe me, it’s a career for her,” Polly Duryea said. Durham has flown in the Paris Air Show and over the Rose Bowl, Peter Duryea said. Paul Duryea died in 2017, three years after Durham started attending the Air Force Academy. Durham flew the same training jet her grandfather used to train pilots. Durham flew out of Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, for the flight over Memorial Stadium on Saturday. “She made all that happen,” Peter Duryea said. “She made everything happen.” Contact the writer at srickert@journal- star.com or 402-473-2634. On Twitter @ShelbyRickert.
SHELBY RICKERT Lincoln Journal Star
As Omaha native Simone Durham Flew over Memorial Stadium in a B-1B Lancer bomber on Saturday, her rela- tives cheered her on from the stands in what was a full-circle moment for a multi-generational Air Force family. Durham, 28, is a member of the United States Air Force, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Cecil Paul Duryea. Durham’s family, including her 95-year-old grand- mother, was there to support her at the Nebraska football game against UCLA. “I never even trusted her with keys to the Jeep, but here she is flying a $350 million airplane,” said Peter Duryea, Durham’s uncle. Durham was with her uncle when she decided she wanted to join the Air Force, during a spur-of-the-moment tour of the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs while on a camping trip when she was in seventh grade. “She walked into the squadron and she saw her grandfather’s picture on the wall, which is very cool,” Peter Duryea said. A straight-A student, Durham graduated from Marian High School in Omaha in 2014, then from the Air Force Academy in 2018, her uncle said. To get accepted, Durham secured a sponsorship from Sen. Deb Fischer. Durham attended flight school at
From left, Rob Anderson, Lori Duryea, Peter Duryea, Alex Hook, Mary Clare Sweet, Camille Duryea, Polly Duryea, Peter Hasselbalch, Chloe Sweet, Cecily Sweet and Donnie Arones gather for a photo before the Nebraska game against UCLA on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Chloe Sweet (left)
hugs her great- grandma Polly Duryea before the Nebraska game against UCLA on Saturday. The family was in Lincoln to see. KATY COWELL PHOTOS , JOURNAL STAR
extends a heartfelt ThankYou to all those who have served or are currently serving in our military
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