Ex-fighter pilot was active in Colorado

William “Bud” Breckner never ran out of energy.

After retiring from the Air Force as a major general, the former fighter pilot and Vietnam prisoner of war stayed active with numerous community and military organizations.

The 74-year-old planned to go skiing at Breckenridge next weekend, and he loved riding his Harley, said his son, Rand Breckner, 41.

“He was constantly involved in something,” Breckner’s son said Sunday.

Bud Breckner died in a car crash along Colorado Highway 105 early Saturday morning while driving home to Monument after visiting a friend. He lost control on a curve and slid into trees.

He loved the Colorado Springs area, and he loved the United States, his son said.

“That’s why he put so much of his retirement time invested in this community,” Rand Breckner said. “He was deeply proud of being an American — his favorite country on Earth, of course.”

A native of Ohio, Breckner began his career as an Air Force fighter pilot in 1955. Ten years later, he flew 100 missions off the coast of North Vietnam as an exchange pilot with the Navy, racking up 219 carrier landings on the USS Intrepid.

He returned to southeast Asia in 1972 as operations officer for the 435th Tactical Squadron, flying F-4 Phantoms.

On July 30 of that year, Breckner’s plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile while over Hanoi, and he spent nine months as a prisoner of war before being released.

Rand Breckner, then 6, remembers seeing his 6-foot-2-inch dad come home skinny at 150 pounds. Rand’s sister, Kristen, was 4 at the time.

Their mother and Breckner’s wife, Cheryl Breckner, died in August.

After returning from Vietnam, Breckner bounced back to spend the next 14 years in Air Force management, including commanding the Air Force Interceptor Weapons School in Florida.

After graduating from the National War College, he was assigned to the Air Force Academy in the late 1970s, where he served as deputy commandant and later as vice commandant of cadets.

Other assignments followed, culminating in his being named commander of the 17th Air Force, based at Sembach Air Base in Germany.

His son said Breckner had liked Colorado Springs so much he decided to return here when he retired.

During his retirement, Breckner stayed involved by joining military groups at the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

“He’s been a member of the Military Affairs Council for a long time and the Defense Mission Task Force,” said Brian Binn, president of the chamber’s Military Affairs Division. “He was a very big supporter of the military and the community.”

Breckner also joined the Colorado Springs Airport advisory board, which, during his time there, planned the military arrival and departure facility, Binn said.

Breckner was also involved in the development of the Colorado Springs Airport Business Park, fellow board member Wally Miller said.

“He’s just a tremendous fellow and one of the strongest community contributors that I’ve known,” Miller said.

Breckner participated in numerous other organizations, including AFA booster groups and pilot organizations.

A command pilot with 5,100 hours in fighter aircraft, he was the recipient of many medals. Among them: The Silver Star, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster and Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster.

Funeral arrangements are pending.