WW II Veteran Earnest E. “Red” McAlpine honored by Hospice Care of the Southwest

Earnest E. “Red” McAlpine 1926 – 2012

Red was born in Olustee, Oklahoma. He graduated in 1942 from Springlake High School before his enlistment in the Army Air Corps in 1944. There he proudly served in the 8th Air Force 44th Bomb Group as a tail gunner in the B-24. In 1945, he was captured in Germany when they were shot down on their 16th bombing mission.

Upon his discharge, Red married Vera McGowan. They moved to Dumas in 1948, where Red worked as a general contractor, building homes during the housing boom that followed the return of soldiers from World War II. He was a two-time commander of Panhandle Chapter of Ex-Prisoners of War and a lifetime active member of American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Hospice Care of the Southwest was pleased to be able to present the family with a framed certificate of appreciation for Red’s service to our country, along with a red-white-and-blue lap robe crocheted by one of our volunteers.