February 22, 2015 Paul and I were best friends during his 1969 F-100 tour and wrote each other subsequently. When he was killed in F4 Phantom with double engine fire on takeoff, I lost that best friend. His goal was to eventually teach English at the University of Michigan. Thank you for all the work you do. Dave Kramer Capt. Paul G. Bast Killed in Thailand Thursday, February 3, 1972 The Holland City News from Holland, Michigan Capt. Paul G. Bast, 29, a graduate of Holland High and Hope College and son of Temple Time radio minister Dr. Henry Bast of Grand Rapids, was reported killed Monday while flying a military plane over Thailand, according to word received Tuesday by his family. Information received said Bast's Phantom jet came down near his base at Udorn, Thailand, but other details of the mishap were not known. Bast was an Air Force pilot and had been assigned to the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1969. He received the Silver Star for gallantry in combat in 1969. A 1961 graduate of Holland High and 1965 graduate of Hope College, Bast received his Masters degree from the University of Michigan in 1967 and was commissioned a lieutenant the same year through Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Texas. While at Hope College and Holland High, Bast played football. He majored in English at Hope. The Bast family lived in Holland while Dr. Bast was professor of Bible at Hope College from 1939 to 1944 and professor of practical theology at Western Theological Seminary from 1956 to 1963. Bast was married in December 1971, and sources said his wife was living with him in Thailand where he was stationed. Capt. P. Bast's Body Being Sent Home Thursday, February 3, 1972 The Holland City News from Holland, Michigan GRAND RAPIDS - The body of Air Force Capt. Paul G. Bast, 28, killed in a military plane crash earlier this week in Thailand, was being shipped to Grand Rapids for services, according to word received today by the family from Bast's wife. Bast's father, Dr. Henry Bast, radio minister for the Temple Time program, was notified Tuesday of the death, but details of the crash were not learned. A spokesman at Temple Time said today Bast's wife contacted the Bast family in Grand Rapids by telephone from Bangkok and said she was returning to Grand Rapids Saturday and her husband's body was being shipped home. The air crash apparently occurred near the Thailand base at which Bast was stationed. Bast was a graduate of Holland High, Hope College and the University of Michigan. He was married in October, 1971. He was commissioned a lieutenant in 1967 through Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Texas. His wife was with him in Thailand. Memorial Recital For Capt. Bast Set Thursday, June 15, 1972 The Holland City News Organist Carol Teti-Rottschafer will present a recital in memory of Air Force Capt. Paul G. Bast Monday at 8:15 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel on the campus of Hope College. Mrs. Teti-Rottschafer lives in Wyandotte where she is organist at the United Presbyterian Church. Her husband, Mark, was a Hope College classmate of Capt. Bast who was killed Feb. 1 when his F4 Phantom supersonic fighter crashed near Udorn Air Force Base in Thailand. Mrs. Teti-Rottschafer will play pieces on both the gallery and chancel organs in Dimnent Chapel. Included in her repertoire will be two pieces by Frescobaldi, four Chorale Preludes and the Prelude and Fugue in C Minor by Bach, and two contemporary pieces by Anton Heiller. The recital will conclude with two contemporary numbers by Jean Langlais - - Chant De Paix (Song of Peace) and Chant Heroique (Heroic Song). Mrs. Teti-Rottschafer is a native of Philadelphia, Pa., where she began organ study with James E. Bryan. She earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at the University of Michigan working with Marilyn Mason. She is now completing the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the U. of M. She studied in Vienna with Anton Heiller under an Austrian and was organist of the American Episcopal Church in Rome, Italy for one year. From 1967 through 1971 she was assistant professor of music at Madison College in Harrisonburg, Va. Her husband is on the research staff of BASF Wyandotte Corporation. Capt. Bast graduated from Holland High School in 1961, received a bachelor's degree in English at Hope College in 1965, and a master's degree in 1967 at the University of Michigan where he had studied medieval literature on a scholarship. Capt. Bast was commissioned a second lieutenant on graduation from Officers Training School in June, 1967, then signed up for pilot training and a five-year stint in flying service. He was awarded the Silver Star in 1969 for flying through dense cloud cover in repeated strafing runs, enabling allied forces to hold defensive positions. Capt. Bast's father, the Rev. Henry Bast, is pastor of Bethany Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, and speaker on the radio program, Temple Time. Friends of Capt. Bast have established an endowed memorial scholarship fund in his memory at Hope College. Contributions to the fund may be sent to the Paul Bast Memorial Fund, c/o Hope College, Holland, Mich. 49423. The recital will be the first of a series to be presented by Hope College summer school during June, July and August. Captain Bast was survived by his wife, Barbara and is buried in Pilgrim Home Cemetery, Holland, Michigan, along with his mother, Henrietta Gerding Bast (1910-1954), his father, the Reverand Dr. Henry Bast (1906-1983), and his brother, Reverand Robert L. Bast (1936-1992). - - The Virtual Wall, February 22, 2015

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