Hargis, Troy Alvis (1919)

roy Hargis was born on March 19, 1919, in Martinsville, Nacogdoches County, Texas, USA.. The son of Thaddeus Hargis and Annie Kendrick. Troy grew up in Nacogdoches County and graduated from Nacogdoches High School. He received a bachelor's degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and his master's degree in business from the University of Pittsburgh. Troy entered the Army Air Corp. in 1940, he trained at Hemet Field and Moffett Field in California, He served in the Pacific. He was awarded the Asian Pacific Operations medal. of Japan as a pilot. He graduated from the Aviation Program in 1941 in Hemel, Calif. He also went to language school at Yale University to learn Japanese in order to work as a liaison for the U.S. Air Force through the Military Assistance Group in Tokyo. After the war, he served in Germany. When he came back stateside, he worked for two years at the NASA Manned Space Center in Houston as a liaison officer for the Air Force working with the astronauts at that time. After 27 years of military service, Troy retired from the Air Force in 1968 as a command pilot and received the Legion of Merit award for his service to the United States. Troy went on to become a teacher of business at SFA for 20 years. While teaching, he ran his ranching operation near Black Jack. He retired from SFA in 1992, but continued ranching until his health declined. Ranching was his life. He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Nacogdoches. Col. Hargis passed away on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, in San Antonio, Baxar County, Texas. He is buried at Black Jack Cemetery in Black Jack, Nacogdoches County, Texas.