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Nolin RECC

As a Touchstone Energy® Cooperative, Nolin RECC is committed to being a community leader safely providing reliable, cost-effective services that improve the quality of living for our members

Honor Flight Veteran – Mr. Connie Guffey

Mr. Connie Guffey was born in 1932. His family had moved from Somerset, Kentucky to downtown Elizabethtown during the Great Depression. They lived above the E’town Café where his father owned and operated the cafe until he went work at Fort Knox.

Connie was attending Elizabethtown High School when his family bought and moved to a farm in Hardin County, Kentucky. He enrolled in Howe Valley High School and joined the basketball team. It was during this time that he met his wife, Betty Lou Goldsmith, who was a cheerleader.

Connie and Betty Lou married when he was 18 and she was 17 years old. They would spend the next 72 years together until she passed away in 2023.

In 1949, while still in high school, Connie joined the Kentucky National Guard in Elizabethtown. He was called to active duty and was sent to Korea with the 5th Regimental Combat Team. At 19 years old, he was appointed First Sergent of Battery A 555 Field Artillery. It was during this conflict that he lost part of his finger.

After serving in Korea, he applied for a commission in the Kentucky National Guard. He was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant and given command of C Battery of the 198th Field Artillery and made 1st Lieutenant in one year. He then decided to apply for active duty in the Army in 1956 and was given a command in Fort Hood, TX.

This began his 30-year career in the United States Army.

Connie was stationed in Germany from 1957 to 1960 with his family during Cold War. In 1960, he was promoted to Captain, then Major, where he served as Inspector General of the 2nd Armored Division.

He then went to Vietnam to take command of the 1st Battalion of the 14th Artillery Regiment and later served as advisor to the Vietnamese senior artillery officer providing fire support and fire support coordination for Americans and Vietnamese.

After his time in Vietnam, Connie earned his Masters in Business Administration and then served as Professor of Military Science at Arizona State University. He was a Lieutenant Colonel during this time. He was promoted to full Colonel in this job.

He retired in Phoenix in 1979 and moved back to Kentucky.

Connie and his wife had 4 children – 3 daughters and one son (deceased).