A daughter remembers: introducing Regal D. DuBose, JR.
Ed. note – In this first of a two-part story we are honored to share the remarkable military career of Regal D. DuBose, Jr., the 92-year-old brother of Evelyn DuBose Bozeman featured in recent issues. His desire to serve in the Air Force took him from Montevallo’s Prentice High School to the controls of a helicopter in Vietnam, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. Among his honors: the Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of a life-saving mission behind enemy lines in Vietnam.
“My dad has always been very low key in his life and career accomplishments. . . . He has never been one to brag and put on airs.”
A YOUNG CAPTIAN DUBOSE
The memories of Regal D. DuBose begin on a farm on Dogwood Road in Montevallo. His youngest daughter, Danielle DuBose, tells us that her father still remembers time spent with family on his grandfather’s farm. John Cooper bought the land in 1945, and, shortly after, Regal Jr and his brother John moved in to help manage the day-to-day chores.
I loved and enjoyed playing sports. Baseball was my game! I had the chance to play a few summers, but the majority of my time was spent working on the farm. It was a large property and they needed the help.
Out of all the farm duties, he most enjoyed being around the animals. He fondly recalls all his animal friends that felt like family. He giggles and smiles when telling this story to Danielle.
We had a cow named Moo, that my brother named. She would bust through the fence and get into our neighbor’s corn. If you called her she would come back. We had a goat named Billy, a pig named Oink and lots of chickens. My mother loved dogs and we had three or four. There was big, yellow dog named Vic. He was the best dog.
Regal, Rose (his wife), and Ralph Cooper in Montevallo 1965
I remember putting the harness on one of our mules and he would walk in circles attached to the sugar cane press. That big gear would start to turn and I would push the sugar cane in the press and all the juice would come out. My grandmother would make syrup from the sorghum we grew and we would eat it with hot biscuits. We grew beans, peas, tomatoes, squash, onions, turnip greens and so much more. There were so many small crops we had on the farm. I remember pulling up the peanuts and shaking the roots. We would toast them in the oven.
We had mulberry trees along our driveway and would pick blackberries off the bushes and make jams. There were orchards on the property as well. We had pecan, pear and plum trees. We would pluck a big purple plum and eat it with a little salt. They were so delicious. There was always so much to do. We worked hard.
Well they took my brother that very day to Calera and he was away, just like that. He had signed up at Prentice HS during a military draft presentation to the senior class in April 1950. My grandmother Susie loved him, we all loved him, but we did not or could not stop him. It was his decision. We were all broken-hearted.
So now, so many years later, we are getting a small view of what my brother experienced.
- Evelyn DuBose Bozeman
Regal graduated from Prentice High School in May 1950. The following Monday he was on his way to San Antonio for basic training.
After basic training, he was sent to Korea as an enlisted airman, where he worked as a mechanic in the transportation division. In 1955 he returned to Alabama and enrolled in the ROTC program at Tuskegee Institute. After graduating in 1959, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Regal attended his first flight school in Greenville, Mississippi, where he met his future wife, Rose. The flight skills he acquired in Greenville would be put to the test when he was sent to Vietnam as a Reconnaissance helicopter pilot.
BASIC TRAINING IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS 1950
FLIGHT SCHOOL IN GREENVILLE, MS 1960
Next month continues the story of Regal’s extraordinary service in Vietnam. We draw from a telephone interview with Regal DuBose July 1, 2026, and additional information from his daughter Danielle. An enhanced version of this story is found at themontevallolegacyproject.com. If you or someone in your family has memories to share, contact us at Montevallolegacy@gmail.com. Submitted by Kathy King and James Salter.