Norman Cupfender, Air Force pilot, engineer
As an Air Force pilot in the Vietnam War, Norman M. Cupfender was a forward air observer who flew a tiny, single-engine spotter plane nicknamed ''Bird Dog." Flying low, he helped bombers to target enemy troops and assisted when rescue missions were trying to locate trapped American soldiers.
He never told his family about the dangers of being such a vulnerable target, except for the time a bullet just missed him and lodged in the ceiling of his plane. The Army recognized his heroism by awarding him the Distinguished Flying Cross and several other medals.
''Norman was all about duty, honor, and country," said George Matthews, a neighbor of Mr. Cupfender's in Manchester-by-the-Sea, where the flags are lowered to half-staff in tribute to his service to his country and community.
Mr. Cupfender, who at 50 served with his wife in the Peace Corps, died Tuesday at his home, of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 73.
''Norman faced every challenge with a positive attitude," said his niece Kichung Lizee of Butler, Tenn., recalling his war service and illnesses.
In his later years, Lizee said, Mr. Cupfender, who retired from the Air Force in 1981 as a colonel, dealt with transverse myelitis, a paralyzing neurological illness, with the same courage he showed in the war: He pursued his love of tennis and became a wheelchair champion.
After doctors told him he would never walk again, Lizee said, he turned to acupuncture and other methods of Eastern medicine. Over a three-year period, she said, he ''willed himself to walk again."
Mr. Cupfender was born in Chambersburg, Pa., the only child of Norman and Ruth (Mauer) Cupfender. He graduated from Chambersburg High School and received his aeronautical engineering degree in 1954 from Miami University.
While there, he met Rosa Choi, a student from Korea, where she was a well-known classical pianist. They married in 1955. After graduation, Mr. Cupfender joined the Air Force. In the 1950s, he flew transport planes to help rebuild war-torn Europe.
He then attended the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, earning a master's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1962. After serving in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966, Mr. Cupfender was reassigned to Wright-Patterson on an aircraft project that lasted until 1973, when he moved on to Air Force research and development and was stationed in the Long Island area until 1976.
The Cupfenders moved to Massachusetts that year, and he became the Air Force representative to
Mr. Cupfender and his wife joined the Peace Corps, serving from 1982 to 1984 on the Caribbean island of Dominica. He taught high school mathematics and science and his wife taught music.
The Peace Corps was her idea, their niece said. ''Rosa had been the wife of a career Air Force man," Lizee said. ''She knew that Uncle Norm had done something for his country. Now, she wanted to do something worthwhile."
Described as a caring man who put others first, Mr. Cupfender met Nobuyuki Miyahara, a young Japanese scientist coming to work in research at Massachusetts General Hospital, on a flight to Boston eight years ago. They quickly became friends. ''Norman is my American father," said Miyahara, who was visiting the couple when Mr. Cupfender died. His own parents were divorced when he was a year old, he said, ''and I didn't know what it was like to have a father until I met Norman."
In Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mr. Cupfender was active in the Lions Club and once served as its president. ''Whether it was tossing pancakes at a fund-raiser or something else, Norman was always there," Matthews said.
In July, the Cupfenders celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Norway aboard the Queen Elizabeth II. His wife wanted to cancel the trip because of Mr. Cupfender's illness, Lizee said, but he insisted on going, and buzzed around the ship in a motorized scooter. ''He was making his last effort," she said.
Mr. Cupfender leaves no other immediate relatives.
A memorial service will will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Crowell Chapel in Manchester-by-the-Sea. A military burial service will be held Sept. 29 in Arlington National Cemetery.
