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.
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
not a senior analysti for military readiness. This position enables
him to exploit his Army experience and to optimize leadership and management
skills development during his Army career. Currently, he works at the
Pentagon and was at the Pentagon when it was attack and 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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COL. (Ret) Juan Valent Crayton |
