POST 10 OFFICERS
PAT KILBURN
KEN JOHNSON
MATT LOPES JR.
CHARLES TURNER
LAWTON ECHEVERRI
RON DURHAM
ROGER ROLLINS
OTHER POST 10 OFFICERS
MORE INFORMATION ON THE OFFICERS
PAT E. KILBURN
Pat was born in 1947 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He grew up in Boulder, Colorado and Schenectady, New York. He entered the military in 1968 and served until 1970 with Vietnam Service with the 5th Infantry Div. (Mech) from 1969-70. He was the Company RTO and received the CIB and Purple Heart.
Upon leaving the U.S. Army, he returned to the University of Montana, Missoula, MT where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Economics and Political Science. Pat’s career as a Federal Agent was with various agencies during his 30 years of service including both Border Patrol Agent and Inspector with the U.S. Immigration Service, Lead Instructor at the Defense Security Service (Richmond, VA), attached to the Security and Counterintelligence section of the On-site Inspection Agency dealing with the Russian Delegation of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces(INF), Magna, UT and his final assignment was the Special Agent in Charge, Defense Security Service, Tucson, AZ where he supervised 10 agents.
After leaving the Federal Government, Pat was heavily involved with the Republican Party and Chairman of District 29 Republican Party. He ran for the Arizona House of Representatives in 2008 and 2O10. He has been heavily involved in veterans Organizations with life memberships in Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH), Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and Vietnam Veterans of American (VVA). He held various offices with these organizations. Pat moved to Costa Rica in 2013 and joined the American Legion at that time. In October, 2017 Pat was elected as the Commander of Post 10.
Pat is married to Victoria and they have two sons and two grandchildren that live in Montana and Idaho.
KENNETH JOHNSON
Ken was born in St,. Joseph, Missouri on 16 September 1928. He first entered on active duty on 1
August 1945 at the age of 16, and served on active duty until 17 September 1952. He earned the Parachute Badge and then served in Korea where he earned the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and six Battle stars.
Upon leaving the service he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Southern California. He subsequently served in the Marine Corps Reserve and the National Guard of both California and Arizona, retiring at the rank of Master Sergeant. His last seven years of work experience was as a Community and Family Support Director for the Army in Germany where he supervised 150 employees in six communities scattered over Eastern Bavaria.
He has twenty years experience in Veteran’s Organizations where he has served in a variety of responsible positions.
MATTHEW LOPES JR.
Matthew Lopes, Jr. was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1943. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1961 and served on active duty until 1964. His MOS listed him as a cryptographer and French linguist and a member of the U.S Army Signal Corp. Upon completion of his military obligation, he was eligible for the G.I. Bill which he used to help attend Yale College. He was married in 1968 to Evelyn Miller. They had one son born in their seventh year of marriage. In 1972, he was admitted to the Yale School of Medicine and School of Public Health, which is also a department within the School of Medicine dating back to 1915. His studies at Yale were completed in 1977. After a years internship, Matthew worked for the Connecticut State Department of Health as an Epidemiology Consultant in Vaccine Preventable illnesses.
Leaving the State of Connecticut, Matthew returned to the Yale School of Public Health to work on alumni development and minority recruitment financed in part by a Health Careers Opportunity Grant. His work resulted ln many Native American, Latinos, and African-American students coming and graduating from Yale with degrees in Medicine and Public Health.
In 1994, Matthew became the AIDS Division Director within the City of New HavenHealth Department. His responsibilities included oversight of Ryan White Title I Program funding and monitoring health services in both New Haven and Fairfield Counties, Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS, HIV Counseling and Testing, Drug Treatment Referral, chairing the New Haven Mayor’s Task Force on AIDS, participation in the Connecticut AIDSIHIV Consortium and development with both the Yale School of Medicine and School of Management an innovative and model, nationally recognized, Needle Exchange Program.
ln 2011, Matthew retired with his wife to Costa Rica and where he became a member of the American Legion. Their son, a 1998 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, died in 2013 and was buried at the Naval Academy.
CHARLES "CHUCK" TURNER
Charles “Chuck” Turner was born in Davenport, Iowa where he attended elementary and junior high. His family moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL in 1960. He attended Pompano Beach High School and later attended Palm Beach Community College where he received an AA Degree. On 25 March 1966, he joined the Air Force and served until 25 March 1970 when he was discharged. He moved to Costa Rica on 1 June 1970 to open a sand and gravel operation. Later he was a contractor for the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company in African Palm and Banana Plantations. Chuck has been a member of the American Legion for more than 30 years and served as the Post Commander for 11 years and has been the Finance Officer for the past 20 years.