John Joseph Houston

John Joseph Houston (1980 – November 5, 2009) was an American military officer, a pilot and a flight instructor who was killed on a routine  training flight near San José Island, Texas.

Biography
After graduating from the Naval Academy in May, 2002, Houston accepted a commission as an Ensign in the United States Navy. He completed pilot training, served two deployments and became a helicopter flight instructor.

Death
On October 28, 2009, while on a routine training flight, from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, United States Navy pilot LT John Joseph Houston and LT Bret Travis Miller lost communication with Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and crash landed in the ocean near the San José Island. Both Houston and Miller were flight instructors. Their aircraft disappeared from radar at 3:17 p.m. on October 28. On Friday, Oct. 30, Miller’s body was recovered after being spotted in the water by the crew of  a boating rig. Over three weeks later, Houston’s body was recovered by Navy divers from within a submerged Beechcraft T-34C Turbo-Mentor. <

Legacy
Houston is featured in a chapter of In the Shadow of Greatness, a book about 33 members of the Naval Academy, Class of 2002.

Houston’s son, Asher, was 5 years old at the time of his death. Houston’s classmates from the Naval Academy, 2nd Company, have “adopted” Asher and created a memorial trust for his benefit.