About S/Sgt. Rufus Youngblood
Flew on ‘Jack the Ripper’ with Capt. William J. Crumm’s crew – the first 8th Air Force crew to return to the US to consult with the War Department, participate in a training manual for new recruits, and a bond selling tour in Feb. 1943. He then became a 2nd Lt. Navigator and was dual training as an Engineer-Navigator on B-29s when the war ended. After the war, he joined the Secret Service and became the deputy director (1951-1971). He was present when President Kennedy was shot and flung himself over Vice President Lyndon Johnson to shield him when shots were being fired and received the Treasury Dept.’s Exceptional Service Award for his actions.
About the Presenter
Rebecca Youngblood Vaughn, MD, is the youngest daughter of Rufus and Peggy Youngblood. She is a physician and published author. While researching her parent’s history to write their life stories, Vaughn re-discovered the veritable treasure-trove of mementos from her father’s 20-year tenure as a high-profile Secret Service Agent and created a new edition of his memoir, 20 Years in the Secret Service: My Life With Five Presidents. The mother of two young adults, she lives in Acworth, Georgia, with her husband of 31 years. Vaughn is a speaker who brings her father’s legacy to life by sharing his frontline point-of-view of some of the most pivotal moments in U.S. history.