Class of 2027 Exemplar Dinner
Class of 2027 Celebrated their Exemplar Dinner this evening!
The Class of 2027 selected Lt. Col. William E. Dyess as their exemplar. According to the Exemplar Dinner program, Lt. Col. Dyess served as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot during World War II. Lt. Col. Dyess survied the Baatan Death March and escaped a Japanese Prisoner of War camp. Lt. Col. Dyess tragically passed away on December 22, 1943 during flight training mission when his P-38 Lightning caught fire in California. Rather than ejecting, Lt. Col. Dyess stayed with the plane to avoid civilian casualities in California. Dyess Air Force Base in Taylor County, Texas is named in his honor.
The celebration dinner started promptly at 1900 and featured guest speaker Col. Ret. Jose "Ed" Sumangil. According to the Exemplar Dinner program, Col. Ret. Sumangil is a graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Col. Ret. Sumangil currently works as the Director of Government Relations for the Small Business Consulting Corp. His last role in the USAF is as the Chief of the Senate Liaison Officer where he represented the DAF and advised the "Top 8" leaders in the DAF on Senate related issues. He was born in the Philippines and moved to the U.S. at age nine. Through family history, Col. Ret. Sumangil found that his mother's uncle was a medic in the Philippine Army who may have died in the Bataan Death March, connecting him to Lt. Col. William E. Dyess, who endured and survived the march. Col. Ret. Sumangil commanded the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB, Strategic Planner and Analyst for USSTRATCOM, and Country Director for the OSD for Middle East Policy.
To view photos, click HERE. Photos begin on Page 1 of Exemplar Dinner.