Jay and Bonnie Braden

Jay and Bonnie met through Jay's sister, Ellen. They dated while Jay was at Purdue and Bonnie was at IU-PUI in Indianapolis. (Their fathers were both army officers assigned to Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.) They married while Jay was employed by the Indiana State Highway Commission. Shortly thereafter they moved to Fort Belvoir, Virginia where Jay, a new engineer lieutenant, attended the Engineer Officer Basic Course. During a 29+ year military career, they lived at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Fort Lewis, Washington; West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue University); Dale City and Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, and Frankfurt, Germany; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Monroe, Virginia; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania; Stuttgart and Hanau, Germany; Valrico (MacDill Air Force Base), Florida; and Fort Eustis, Virginia. Thereafter they lived in Tallahasseee, Florida where each was employed by Florida State University; and Tampa (Valrico), Florida. (Jay served in Vietnam following the Fort Lewis assignment and Bonnie lived with her parents in Virginia Beach during that time.) (Jay served in Saudia Arabia with US Central Command while assigned to CENTCOM - MacDill AFB - during Desert Storm, 1990-1991, and Bonnie remained in their Valrico home during this time.) Jay and Bonnie are very family oriented, with family trips throughout Europe, to the beaches of Cape Hatteras and Daytona, to the natural parks in Nevada and North Carolina, and via cruises from both coasts of Florida. Jay was employed by Stetson University at its Celebration Center until February 2012, and Bonnie was employed through May 2006 as a Wee Care teacher for First Baptist Church, Brandon, sharing teaching duties with daughter Sandra. They enjoy common interests: bridge and other card games, golf, tennis, and volleyball. They are active in their church. More on Jay and the Army Places we have lived

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Just a normal couple