DONALD EDWARD ("DON") GOOD died peacefully on July 30, 2017, in Sammamish, Washington, aged 99. As a pilot with the Third Attack Group in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II, he was also known to his comrades as "Buck", and as "Lucky Don", either for being an especially fortunate aviator or, perhaps, for winning so many poker games.

Don was born in Eugene, Oregon, in 1918, the eldest child of Verna Van Vliet and Chester Ira Good. He graduated from Eugene High School in 1936, and attended the University of Oregon until he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He completed Advanced Flying Training at Kelly Field, Texas, in February 1941 and was flying at Savannah Army Air Base when the United States declared war. Don sailed with the Third Attack Group from San Francisco to Australia in January 1942. The Third Attack Group was based in Australia until it could relocate to Kila Kila Airfield, Port Moresby, New Guinea. Assigned to the 89th Bombardment Squadron, Don later became the Squadron's Operations Officer and then served as Squadron Commander.

Don completed 57 missions, occasionally flying a B-25 Mitchell aircraft, but most often piloting an A-20 Havoc. He participated in raids on Lae, in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea and in the bombing of Rabaul. He endured a long trek over the Kokoda Trail and was hospitalized with malaria. After his A-20 was struck by anti-aircraft fire, Don managed to keep the plane aloft until he could ditch outside enemy territory; he deployed his life raft, paddled to shore and was later rescued. Not long after, "Lucky Don" pushed the 89th Squadron's reputation for "minimum altitude" flying to such a low that his plane returned to the airfield draped with branches. For this feat he was honored at a Squadron party with "the award of The Palm Tree for successfully destroying one of the same." Don was also awarded several official military medals, including the Silver Star, with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Distinguished Flying Cross, with Oak Leaf Cluster.

Pilots from the Third Attack Group often spent their furloughs in Sydney, Australia, where Don met his first wife, Jean Lewis (later divorced). On leaving the Southwest Pacific Area, Don was stationed at Florence, South Carolina, then at Rhein-Main Air Base in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the Army of Occupation. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Stanford University, he was sent to Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Don completed his 21-year career with the Air Force at the Pentagon.

Following a decade at The Boeing Company, Don embarked on his third (and favorite) profession, teaching math and science to middle school students; he retired from Kent Junior High School in 1983.

Don considered himself a lucky man indeed, seeing every year of his life after the war as a gift. He was an avid fly fisherman, and enjoyed nothing so much as a day on one of his favorite rivers. A lifelong athlete and accomplished at a number of sports, Don played tennis into his 80s and golf into his 90s--with every year making it easier to shoot his age!

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Alice Good, of Sammamish, Washington; daughter Suzanne Good and granddaughter Elizabeth Judge, both of Oakland, California; step-son Mark Wilson and daughter-in-law Ann Wilson, of Bellevue, Washington; foster daughter, HengMo McCall, currently stationed with the U.S. Army in South Korea, and step-grandson Chad Moran and wife Shannon Moran. Don's younger siblings, Robert "Bud" Good of Roseburg, Oregon, and Dorothy Stahl, of Eugene, Oregon, died earlier this year.