Raymond C. Houghton

LT RAYMOND CARL HOUGHTON

NO VIETNAM ARMY PICTURE AVAILABLE (How can that be?... HELP!)

Raymond arrived in Vietnam 1971 and was an Artillery Forward Observer from 1971-1972. He was assigned to A/2/501st. Ray served two terms as our Vice President from 1996-2000 and two terms as our President from 2000-2004. He created a pamphlet called "Alpha Avengers of Vietnam" as well as the original web site for the Avengers called "Sights and Sounds from the war in Vietnam". It was originally on the Cyber Haus web site, and was later moved to www.alphaavengers.org.

MEDALS AND AWARDS

National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Air Medal
Army Commendation Medal w/ “V”
Bronze Star
Purple Heart

UNIT CITATIONS

PHOTOS

I don't currently have photos of Raymond but I have requested them.

BIRTH 26 May 1947 - Greenfield, MA, USA
DEATH 4 Dec 2019 St. Peter's Hospice Inn, Albany, NY, USA

BURIAL Raymond is interned at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne, MA (Cape Cod).

OBITUARY

Born May 26, 1947 in Greenfield, MA. He lived throughout New England in his early years and was a graduate of Pittsfield High School in 1965 and Norwich University in 1969 with a BS in Mathematics. He began his working career as a programmer for GE in Pittsfield, MA and Burlington, VT.

He served his country as a Second Lieutenant (101st Airborne) Field Artillery officer in the Vietnam war from October 13th 1971 to October 12th 1972. He was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal w/ “V”, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

Upon discharge he pursued both higher education and government work, receiving an MS in Computer Science from GWU in 1975 and an MS in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins in 1980 while working as an analyst and project leader for the NSA and NBS in Maryland. His pursuits in academia became full time as he split work on completing his PhD in computer science at Duke University in Durham, NC and as an Associate Professor at Augusta State University in Augusta, GA in the mid-80s to early 90s. In 1991 he received his doctorate from Duke. He served as an Adjunct Lecturer at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.

In 1995 he opened Cyberhaus, a computer learning center in Delmar, NY. During this time he began to pursue his interest in history, specifically the Revolutionary War. He wrote several award winning revolutionary war travel books and hosted tours and talks on the subject. In 2005 he became town historian for the Town of Bethlehem, NY and worked as a columnist for “Our Towne” newsletter. He was a featured author of "In the beginning: recollections of software pioneers," where his recollections included creating possibly the first email in the 60s coming about from a complicated scheme to talk to a girlfriend at Colby Junior College by taking advantage of a remote connection hosted by Dartmouth College. He had honors from the Department of Commerce; was consistently listed in Who’s Who in America; was a Bethlehem Middle School mentor; he built and maintained several community websites including Feestelijik Bethlehem; sat on a committee that brought about the Bethlehem Veteran’s Memorial; and was a People to People Ambassador to China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. He made arguably the world’s finest sugar free sweet potato pie.

Surviving are his loving wife of 33 years, Dr. Jan Laws Houghton of Delmar; son Raymond James Houghton of Philadelphia, PA; daughter Dr. April Houghton Blakeslee and husband Michael Blakeslee of Pittsfield, NH; daughter Amy Houghton of Kalamazoo, MI; and a Grandson, Westley James Blakeslee. He is also survived by an older brother, Jerry Houghton of Billerica, MA; a younger sister, Theresa Houghton of Las Vegas, NV; and a younger brother, Scott Houghton of Simsbury, CT; as well as numerous nephews and nieces.