“An Officer and a Gentleman” was a box office hit several years ago. That was Hollywood.

In reality, a man who truly fit the description of an Officer and a Gentleman had retired just a few years earlier from a military career that was at the least described as outstanding.

Russell E. Dougherty was the epitome of an officer and a gentleman. But unlike Hollywood he fit the description with integrity and humility.

Dougherty, a Barren County native, died Sept. 7.

His accomplishments and accolades could fill page after page. While accomplished in so many arenas of life, he never forgot his Kentucky roots and his beloved Glasgow.

Dougherty was born in 1920 and at the age of 12 decided he wanted to become a lawyer.

A young Russell Dougherty played trumpet in the Glasgow High School band. In 1935, the 123rd Cavalry of the Kentucky National Guard was in need of a bugler. That year he went to summer camp at Fort Knox, played his bugle and took care of his Captain’s horse. His Captain, Sam Sears, was a cashier at a Glasgow bank and a distant relative.

Dougherty stayed in the Cavalry through high school and college. He once said the one thing that gave him the greatest satisfaction in life was that he paid his way through school as a trumpet player, never costing his parents a penny.

He graduated from Western in 1941 and then set out for the nation’s capitol to study law and to take a job with the FBI.

Then came World War II.

When the B-29, the most advanced bomber of World War II, came along, Dougherty qualified for it.

His bombardier was a First Lieutenant from Sullivan County, Tenn., who later made a name for himself in show business as Tennessee Ernie Ford.

At the end of the war, Dougherty returned to Kentucky, entered the University of Louisville School of Law and went into the inactive reserve.

The next three decades of his life was spent in the thick of the Cold War.

In the 1970’s he was Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, Commander of Strategic Air Command and Chief of Staff for NATO’s Allied Command Central Europe. From 1974 until his retirement in 1977, he was Commander in Chief of Strategic Air Command (SAC). In 1974 SAC had about 150,000 people, 1,200 airplanes and more than 1,000 land-based ballistic missiles.

A 2005 article in the Air Force Magazine said along the way “Dougherty gained a reputation as one of the Air Force’s best thinkers and planners. He was a leader who was held in exceptionally high regard by those he led.”

An aide to Dougherty described him as someone that was always accessible, especially to troops in the field. The aide said Dougherty made his people proud to be involved, telling his office staff, “Good night good people, I couldn’t do it without you” at the end of each day.

Dougherty’s son, Mark, said of his dad, “His family was his only hobby.” Most of the Dougherty family is in the Air Force, including Glasgow native Joe Dougherty, a cousin to Gen. Dougherty. “Our family truly bled Air Force blue,” said Mark Dougherty.

I give you this brief outline of a man who spent his life serving his country, his family and his hometown. While I hold him in the highest of regard for his professional achievements, I treasure the memories I have from his personal life.

With several family members still in the Glasgow area, the “General” always loved to return home when the opportunity was given him.

My youngest daughter entered the Air Force following graduation from college. He was a mentor, an advisor and most of all a dear friend to her and our entire family.

Already in retirement, he took this young Captain from Glasgow under his wing. Her relationship with Gen. Dougherty began when she was at Glasgow High School, the same school he had attended years before. That relationship grew and they became closer through her college years.

During her college summer sessions she spent time working in Washington, D.C. He often took her to dinner at the Army/Navy Club, a private members-only club that frequently showcased Washington’s elite. He enjoyed introducing her to many of his friends and counterparts.

During their visits he would recall stories from his military career and pass on advice to the new recruit.

During one of their outings he told her about a time he was having dinner at the club with several General officers and other dignitaries. He recalled that an advisor came in to tell them that the decision had been made to let women into the Marine Corps. He claims that at that exact moment the portrait of Archibald Henderson, a former Commandant of the Marine Crops, fell to the ground.

Soon after he had spent time with our daughter or talked with her on the phone without fail there was always a note or phone call to our home telling us how well she was doing and that he was keeping an eye on his Air Force girl from Glasgow.

When my daughter, who now works in Washington, learned of his death she wrote me this in an email: “It was an honor to have known him — he was truly one of the ‘fathers’ of today’s Air Force. His legacy and contributions to that community will be felt for many years to come.”

A few years before my retirement from this newspaper, we were doing a special section and I decided that I would interview General Dougherty for that edition. I spent several days pondering over the questions I wanted to ask. He had spent such an exciting and meaningful life where would I ever start?

On the day of the interview I called his Arlington, Va., home around mid-morning and started the interview, which I expected would take 15-20 minutes.

Think again.

Halfway through the interview I began to wonder, “Was I interviewing him or was he interviewing me?” With each question I asked, he would return with another, asking about someone in Glasgow or telling about something that happened during his younger years in Glasgow. Three hours later we said our goodbyes for the day. I always wondered why my publisher did not ask about the three-hour phone call I made to D.C.

The General once told me that he had been all over the world, but there was no place better than Glasgow. Despite his many achievements, he always remained a “hometown boy.”

General Russell E. Dougherty, ret. — A True Officer and A Gentleman.

Funeral services for Gen. Russell E. Dougherty will be held Sept. 27 in Arlington National Cemetery.

*Some information for this article provided by the Air Force Magazine.

Special commentary from retired Daily Times news editor Connie Pickett.