JAMES E. MCNULLA III
FIRST COMPANY
CLASS OF 1958

DELAND, Fla. — James E. McNulla III died Nov. 7, 2023. He was Born March 5, 1933, in Vergennes, Vt., to Kathleen Norton McNulla and James E. McNulla II. He was the oldest of nine children: two brothers, Patric and John; and six sisters, Mary, Barbara, Kathleen, June, Susan and Nancy. The three McNulla brothers spent over 75 years in the Military during the period of the Korean, the Vietnam, and the Cold Wars.

James married Sally Bristol in Vergennes on June 14, 1958. They had a military wedding with eight of his classmates from U.S. Naval Academy as the sword bearers. They had four children; James IV, Jeffery, Deborah, and Suzanne. He has five grandchildren, Ryan McNulla, Jaguar Khatchi, Amy McNulla, Allison McNulla, and James E. McNulla V. He was predeceased by his son James (2004), sister Barbara (2011), brother Patric (2016), brother John (2022), and sister Kathleen (2023).

He graduated from Vergennes High School in 1951. He attended one year at the University of Vermont. He enlisted in the United States Navy Reserves in 1951, and in 1954 he was nominated to attend the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., from the Naval Reserves and graduated in June 1958. He went to Naval Flight Training in Pensacola, Fla., after graduation and received his Naval Aviator Wings in December 1959.

During his career he attended the Naval Post-Graduate School, the Naval War College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and taught at the United States Naval Academy. He received the Legion of Merit for his contributions to the Airborne Anti-Submarine hunting capability of the Navy, Naval Expeditionary Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal (2), Armed Service Expeditionary Medal (2), Vietnam Service Medal (4), Rep of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Sea Service Medal.

During his career he flew out of Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, the Azores, Malta, Greece, Libya, the Philippines, Cuba and throughout the Caribbean and Mediterranean. He was attached to three Patrol Squadrons (Commanded VP-56), two ships, U.S.S. Yorktown, U.S.S. Kearsarge,) and NAVMAT, BUPERS, ASWSYS, and OPNAV-98 in the Pentagon. He flew surveillance flights out of Gitmo during the Cuban missile crisis and was on the U.S.S. Kearsarge in the Sea of Japan during the U.S.S. Pueblo crisis.

He retired from the Navy as a Captain in September 1985. He was a ASW consultant for two years in the Washington area and worked at Sparton Electronics (DeLand, Fla.) for 12 years, from which he retired as the Vice-President for Government Programs.

During his life the family lived in Pensacola, Fla.; Norfolk, Va.; Brunswick, Maine; Monterrey, Calif; Annapolis, Md; Long Beach, Calif; Portsmouth, R.I.; Alexandra, Va. (2); Jacksonville, Fla. (2); and DeLand, Fla., where in 1999 he and Sally retired to play golf at Hilton Head Island, each year for many years. Calling hours will be from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Brown-McClay Funeral Home in Vergennes. A memorial service will be held 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 2nd at Brown-McClay funeral Home in Vergennes. He will be buried in Prospect Cemetery, Vergennes, Vt., where his grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, and his son James E. IV are buried. ◊