Famous Overseas Alumni and Military BRATs

KRISTIN ARMSTRONG

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST, CYCLIST

Kristin Armstrong is a three-time Olympic gold medalist in cycling and former professional road bicycle racer. She graduated from Kubasaki High School in Okinawa, Japan. Her father was an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

LESLIE M. ALEXANDER

US AMBASSADOR TO ECUADOR

Leslie M. Alexander is an Overseas School Alumnus.  He is presently the US ambassador to Ecuador and previously was the US ambassador to Mauritius.

Ambassador Alexander is a 1966 graduate of Orleans American HS in France.

LESTER HOLT JR. (1959-)

Lester Don Holt Jr. (born March 8, 1959) is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News following the demotion of Brian Williams, making him the first African-American to solo anchor a weekday network nightly newscast. Mr. Holt, the son of an Air Force technician, likes to tell stories of his time as a D.J. on a country and western station in California, where he grew up, with a brief stint in Alaska.

LeVAR BURTON

TV ACTOR-PRODUCER-DIRECTOR

LeVar Burton is a military brat. He was born Levardis Robert Burton in Landstuhl, West Germany on February 16, 1957. He got his career started when he landed a role playing Kunta Kinte in the television mini-series “Roots” in 1977. Burton is most well known for his role as Geordi La Forge in the television series: “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” He also produces and directs the “Reading Rainbow” television series for the PBS.

LIEUTENANT GENERAL NADJA WEST (RET.)

US ARMY

Lieutenant General Nadja Yudith West (née Grammer; March 20, 1961) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and was the 44th U.S. Army Surgeon General. She was a former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command. West is the first black Army Surgeon General, the first black female active-duty major general, the first black female major general in Army Medicine, and the first Army black female lieutenant general. She is the highest ranking woman to have graduated from the United States Military Academy. West joined the Army because “I come from a military family. I kind of grew up eating, drinking, breathing, living Army. My dad was in — he joined the Army in 1939, when the Army was segregated, and stayed in for 33 years.”  She is a Karlsruhe BRAT.

LIONEL RICHIE

SINGER SONGWRITER

Lionel Richie is an Army Brat.  His father was a US Army Captain.

Richie was the lead singer for the Commodores and began his solo career in 1982.  He has since won many music awards including three Grammys, several American Music Awards and an Oscar awarded in 1986 for Best Original song, “Say You, Say Me,” the theme to the film: “White Knights.”


Lt. Col. MICHAEL ANDERSON (1959-2003)

US AIR FORCE, SPACE SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT

Lt. Col. Michael Anderson -USAF/NASA Astronaut.  Michael Anderson was an Air Force brat. He was lost along with the six other NASA astronauts when the space shuttle Columbia broke up upon re-entry to earth on Saturday, February 1, 2003. In a previously published interview Lt. Col. Anderson related, “My dad was in the Air Force. And you know, being an Air Force brat and living on Air Force bases, I was always around airplanes. And, that was something else that really captured my imagination, just seeing airplanes, you know taking off and landing every day, and flying over the house, and making all of this noise just was a fascinating thing to me as a kid. So, my interest in aviation and my interest in science were, I guess, two of the things I really latched on to, and two things that I just couldn’t shake as I grew older.”

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Lt. Col. SUSAN J. HELMS

US AIR FORCE, SPACE SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT

Lt. Col. Susan Helms is an Air Force Brat. Her father is a retired USAF Lt. Col.

Info From: Lt. Col. S. J. Helms & NASA Astronaut Bios

Lt. GENERAL JAMES CLAPPER, JR. (RET.)

US AIR FORCE

Lt. General Clapper is an Army Brat and an Overseas Brat. He graduated from Nurenburg AHS, Nurenburg, Germany, Class of 1959.  He is also a University of Maryland-Munich Alumnus.

General Clapper started his military career as an enlistee in the Marine Corps.  He then switched to the AF Officer’s Candidate School and became a career AF officer.

He was director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1991-95 when he retired from the Air Force.  Following six years in private industry, in 2001 he became head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency under Homeland Security, a position he currently holds.  (Updated Nov 2005)

Lt. GENERAL THOMAS C. WASKOW (RET.)

US AIR FORCE

Lt. General Thomas C. Waskow attended London Central at Bushey Hall from 1962-65. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1970.   He retired from the Air Force in 2005. He had been the Commanding Officer for U.S. Air Forces in Japan.

Waskow, a command pilot, logged more than. 4,700 flying hours with 904 hours of combat flying. He flew 2,200 in the F-15 Eagle.

LUCIAN TRUSCOTT IV

AUTHOR

Lucian Truscott IV is an Overseas School Alumnus and an Army Brat.  His Father was an Army Officer.  He attended schools in Stuttgart and Oberammergau.

His books include: “The Boys of St. Julien,” “Dress Gray,” “Full Dress Gray,” “Dress Blue,” “The Heart of War,”  and “Rules of the Road: A Novel.”

MADOLYN SMITH

ACTRESS

Madolyn Smith is an Overseas School Alumnus and was a member of the International School of Bangkok Class of ’75 where she attended school 1969-1972.

She is known for her roles in “Urban Cowboy” (with John Travolta) in 1980 and “Funny Farm.”


MAI SHANLEY FITZGERALD

MISS USA 1984

Mai Shanley Fitzgerald is a military brat and an overseas school alumnus.  She graduated as a member of the Class of 1981 of Woodbridge American High School in England and also attended grade school at J.M. Wainwright School, Taiwan.

MAILE (ANDREA) FLANAGAN

ACTRESS, PRODUCER

(Andrea) Maile Flanagan is an actress in television and film and an Emmy-winning voice actor. She won an Emmy in 2006 and 2007 for her voice work as Piggley Winks in Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks. Her voice work also includes voicing the main character of Naruto in the English dub of the anime series Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden. She attended Nürnberg American High School for seventh grade through freshmen year and Munich American High School for her sophomore through senior years, graduating in 1983. Maile’s father worked for US military intelligence.

Maj. GENERAL DAVID SCOTT GRAY

US AIR FORCE

Major General David Scott Gray, USAF, graduated from SHAPE American High School in 1972.

General Scott Gray is a graduate of the University of Alabama.  He served as Commander of the 86th Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB from July 2003 to May 2005.  In May 2005, he became Commander, Air Mobility Warfare Center at Ft. Dix, NJ.  (Updated Nov 2005)

MAJOR GENERAL BUFORD C. BLOUNT III

US ARMY

Major General “Buff” Blount has been serving as the Army’s Deputy G-3 since October 2003.  Previously he was the Commanding General, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield.  MG Blount gave up command of the 3rd ID after bringing them home from Iraq where they were the lead force in capturing Baghdad.  MG Blount is a 1966 graduate of London Central High School.

MARC GARNEAU

SPACE SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT

Marc Garneau is a Canadian army brat and Overseas School Alumnus. His family was stationed in Germany and England.

Garneau has flown on several shuttle missions since 1984.

MARCIA GAY HARDEN

ACTRESS

Marcia Gay Harden  nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2001, is a Navy Brat and Overseas Brat who grew up in Japan, Germany, Texas and New York.  As per the Washington Post 02/21/2001.

MARCUS CALVIN

STAGE, FILM, TELEVISION ACTOR

Stage, film, and television star, Marcus Calvin graduated from Frankfurt American High School in 1983. After completing two years with the University of Maryland (1985) in Munich, Germany, he won a full scholarship from the government of Germany to attend the Otto-Faleckenberg-Schule for the Performing Arts (1989). Marcus has over fifty films and TV appearances to his credit along with the title character of the hit TV show “War Was Rickie”.

On the German stage Marcus has performed in more than seventy productions among them the title roles in productions of Little Shop of Horrors, Twelth Night, Macbeth, Angels in America, Dong Juan, Cyrano de Bergerac, and Tartuffe. After being in Ensemble Companies in City, National and State Theatres in Germany for twenty-two years, he is now a freelance actor working independently. Living in Germany, Marcus is married and has three children

MARK HAMILL

FILM ACTOR

Mark Hamill is a Military Brat and an Overseas School Alumnus.

Hamill attended Kinnick High School (Yo-Hi) in Yokohama, Japan. He graduated as a member of the Class of ’69. He was voted the school’s best all around and most talented student and served as student council president.

No surprise, but he was involved in drama productions while attending the school.

Mark Hamill is best known as Luke Skywalker in several of the Star Wars Movies.

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