INTERIM CITY MANAGER DEFENDS WATER BILLS, PAGE 2
westvalleyview.com — the newspaper of Avondale, Buckeye, Goodyear, Litchfield Park & Tolleson, AZ 50¢ Wednesday, November 9, 2016 (623) 535-8439
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LEFT BEHIND EMCC art exhibit captures immigrants’ confiscated possessions — Page 10.
View photo by Jordan Christopher
GOODYEAR CITY EMPLOYEE MEL GIBSON, left, and Budd Gilbert of Glendale, both Army veterans, attach handmade ceramic tiles on the Brotherhood sculpture Oct. 25 at Goodyear Ballpark. The sculpture and mosaics were installed and created by local Valley veterans in celebration and support of one another. The sculpture will be unveiled during Goodyear’s Veterans Day Tribute from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Friday at the ballpark at 1933 S. Ballpark Way.
‘I am very humble and very grateful’ AFRICA BOUND Odyssey students journeying to Ghana to improve village drinking water — Page 11.
DAILY UPDATES! News Updates and fresh Classified ads posted Monday - Friday at 4:30 p.m. online at www.westvalleyview.com Volume 31, No. 31 32 Pages 1 Section Circulation: 77,869 INDEX Classifieds .................... 28 Editorials & Letters .......... 6 Obituaries ...................... 26 Military ............................. 5 Sports ........................... 13 Briefcase ......................... 8 9 Days a Week............... 24 Recycle this paper
Goodyear man inducted into Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame by Kourtney Balsan special to the View
Retired Air Force Col. Richard Toliver, 78, of Goodyear was inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Oct. 28. Toliver earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) and served in the Air Force from 1963 to 1988 as one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. “During [World War II], I was inspired to want to fly planes at a very early age. That desire stayed with me even when we moved back to the south where I finished going to school,” Toliver said. “I was introduced to the Tuskegee Airmen back in 1957, and I was re-motivated to continue my desire to join the Air Force and go fly airplanes.” Toliver completed two tours in Southeast Asia and flew 446 combat missions. He obtained 4,000 flying hours as a command pilot while flying an F-4, F-15, F-16, OT-37, O-2, T-33 and several civilian aircraft, he said. “My time flying combat was certainly a very significant part of my life and my career,” Toliver said. “We were flying some of the most intense combat missions in North Vietnam.” Toliver said his greatest memory while serving was when he heard the news that American prisoners were being released in Vietnam, including friends who had been captured years earlier. “That was the most significant event for me, because many of my friends had been shot down
View photo by Jordan Christopher
COL. RICHARD TOLIVER stands in his home office Nov. 2 in Goodyear. The retired Air Force fighter pilot was recently inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame. — some of them had been prisoners for seven years or more,” he said. “One of the highlights
of my life was to be there when they arrived at the first stop coming out of Vietnam, arriving at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.” After his time in combat, Toliver tested planes for combat readiness, and was one of the original operational test pilots for the F-15 at Luke Air Force Base in 1974. He then traveled to Europe to introduce the aircraft to NATO, he said. The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society honors veterans who have made contributions to their country at a local, state or national level after their time in uniform. “They are veterans who have honorably served their country through military service and who have continued to serve and inspire their fellow man with their deeds and accomplishments throughout their lives,” the organization’s website states. Toliver continued as a public servant long after his military days were done. In 1993, he worked his way up in the United We Stand America reform organization and became the southwest regional director. In 1995, he served as the national coordinator for minority community outreach during the formation of the National Reform Party. He was then appointed in 1997 to the Board of Regents at the University of New Mexico by New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. Toliver served on the board until 2003 as the first black and retired military officer. In 2004, he moved to Goodyear and served on the Board of Directors at West Valley Hospital. (See Hall of Fame on Page 5)