User:Deedeefleur/Landon K. Thorne III

Landon K. Thorne III  (born 1942) is an American entrepreneur, United States Marine Corps Reserve Colonel (Retired), author and poet.

Early years
Landon was born in New York City. He is the son of Landon Ketchum Thorne Jr and Alice Smith Barry. His maternal great-grandfather was journalist David S. Barry and his paternal great-great-grandfather was Alfred Lebbeus Loomis, a physician who served as president of the Association of American Physicians. Landon's sister, Julia Thorne, was the first wife of former U.S. Senator (D, MA) and now Secretary of State, John F. Kerry. His brother is David Thorne (Diplomat) of Brookline, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Thorne spent much of his childhood in Rome and attended Notre Dame International School for Boys. His sister, Julia, attended Marymount International School of Rome while his brother, David, attended American Overseas School of Rome. His father had been appointed to a diplomatic post overseeing the Marshall Plan in Italy, then remained in Rome as a representative of Bankers Trust Company of New York and the publisher of Rome Daily American newspaper. Thorne attended high school at the Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts before entering Yale.

Ancestry
Landon is a direct descendant of William Thorne Sr (eleventh generation) and William Thorne Jr (tenth generation), father and son signers of The Flushing Remonstrance. Landon is also the direct descendant to Joseph Thorne (tenth generation) who married Mary Bowne, daughter of John Bowne, founder of The John Bowne House.

Business
In 1985, Landon was the financial advisor to boxer Alexis Arguello, allowing Alexis to make his boxing comeback and resolve his outstanding issues with the IRS.

Media
In the early 1970’s concurrent with the anti-war protest movement against the war in Vietnam in which his the brother-in-law, John Kerry, was a leading participant and a prominent voice, Landon began writing poetry that expressed the prevailing angst of former veterans. Landon's poetry works include contributions to the book Winning Heart and Minds - War Poems by Vietnam Veterans and contributions to the book The New Soldier. An excerpt from one of Landon's poems, “On Passing Graves Registration-Dong Ha”, was cited in the review of Winning Heart and Minds - War Poems by Vietnam Veterans by The New York Times Book Review on May 14, 1972.

An experienced amateur photographer, during his combat tour in Vietnam, Landon compiled an extensive number of high quality photographs, several of which were subsequently published in a book entitled Combat Photographer, one of a Time-Life Book Series, called “The Vietnam Experience”.

In 1995, then a prominent business figure in Miami Florida, Landon was recruited by MTV and Bunim-Murray Productions to be the on-camera business advisor to The Real World: Miami then in its fifth season of a long and continuously successful run. In an interview published by Marines Magazine, Landon is quoted as saying, "Entrepreneurship isn't just about making money, it's more about sharing energy and empowering the greatness in others."

Shortly after his retirement from military service, and deeply concerned about the United States’ invasion of Iraq, Landon became a regular a regular Op-Ed contributor to The Daily Star (Lebanon) from May 9, 2003 to April 4, 2004. When his close friend and former brother-in-law, the Senator John Kerry (D-MA), became the presumptive nominee as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency, Landon stopped his Op-Ed columns in order to avoid having them being construed as policy statements.

Personal life
Landon is married, has grown children and resides in Beaufort, South Carolina at Brays Island Plantation.

Landon is a graduate of Yale University. He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for 35 years, retiring as Colonel in 2002.

Aviation
Landon has been an avid pilot since his teens. In addition to his ground combat service in Vietnam, Landon flew 163 backseat air combat observer missions in the skies over Vietnam and received four Air Medal awards. He currently owns a fully restored L-19 "Bird Dog" military observation aircraft, Tail Number N68VN. Landon flies regularly to airshows and as a volunteer pilot for SouthWings, a non-profit conservation organization that provides a network of volunteer pilots to support conservation advocacy and the restoration and protection of the ecosystems and biodiversity of the Southeastern U.S.

A strong believer in the importance of aviation’s role in local communities, Landon  also volunteers on the Airport Support Network (ASN) of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). As an ASN volunteer, Landon assists and supports direct and indirect promotion of local airport activity to enhance favorable image of  the airport that he represents and helps to educate local officials and community neighbors about the value of their airport.