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Juan Valent
Crayton, was born in Gadsden, Alabama on February 14, (Valentine’s Day) in 1946.
After his father returned home from serving in the Navy during
World War II, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio with his family where he went to
school and grew up. In 1964
he graduated from Glenville Senior High School in the top ten percent of
his class and enrolled at Lincoln University, his father’s alma mater
and the school where his sister was currently enrolled as a junior. While at Lincoln University, he was active in various
activities and programs, to include the Army Reserve Officers Training
Corps (ROTC) and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.
Following Army ROTC summer camp in 1967 where he was the number one
ranked LU student, he received the 65th Colored Infantry Memorial Award,
and he commanded the LU Army ROTC Corps of Cadets during the 1967-1968 school
year. He graduated from LU as
a “ROTC Distinguished Graduate” with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Political Science and was commissioned as an armor officer in the Army on
30
January 1969. In July of 1969
he married his college sweetheart, Lynda Dianne Bordeaux, who graduated
from LU in June 1969 and also is from Cleveland.
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Juan V. Crayton, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired) |
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Juan
was as an officer in the United States Army for thirty years, retiring as
a colonel in 1999. While in
the Army, he commanded an infantry company during combat in Vietnam, a
tank battalion in Korea, and a Readiness Group in Pittsburgh, PA.
Additionally, he taught Army ROTC at Kent State University and
served in key management positions at various overseas and stateside posts
and stations, to include serving at the Pentagon as an Army Inspector
General, a Branch Chief and a Division Chief.
As the Chief of the Joint Inauguration Support Branch, he
coordinated all military support to the 1993 Presidential Inauguration in
Washington, D.C. He earned
numerous military awards and decorations, to include the Airborne and Ranger
tabs, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, three Bronze Stars and the Legion
of Merit. He attended various military schools, culminating with the
Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA.
Following
his retirement from the Army in 1999, Juan joined the Science Applications
International Corporation (SAIC) where he is now a senior analyst for
military readiness. This
position enables him to exploit his Army experience and to optimize
leadership and management skills developed during his Army career.
Currently, he works at the Pentagon and was at the Pentagon when it
was attacked on September 11, 2001.
During 2002,
he received one of the American flags flown over the Pentagon to
commemorate the first anniversary of the attack and a limestone fragment
from the face of the building that was damaged during the attack in
recognition of his service in the Army Operations Center immediately
following the attack.
Juan
resides in Springfield, Virginia with his wife, Lynda, who teaches at a
local elementary school. His son,
Christopher, who is a December 2004 graduate of James Madison University (JMU),
resides in Fairfax, VA. Currently, Juan
is involved in numerous community activities, and he coached
basketball and soccer for the Springfield Youth Club for many years while
his son was growing up. Juan
and Lynda were formerly members of the JMU Parent Council and are
currently members of the LU Washington, DC
Alumni Chapter, where he serves as the Chapter’s web master.
The Crayton - Bordeaux family was selected as the “2003 LU Family
of the Year” and Juan was
selected by the LU National Alumni Association to be recognized as a
Distinguished Alumni at the 2005 National Alumni Convention . The family
attends Antioch Baptist Church in Fairfax Station, VA.
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