James Douglas “Doug” Vaughan, seated center, celebrated his 100th birthday with his family on Jan. 5. Born in 1925 in Opelika, he attended school in Opelika and Beauregard and graduated from Clift High School, where he drove the school bus during his senior year. Although he had a deferment for farming during WWII, he joined the Army Air Corps and attended B29 Flight Engineer School in Amarillo, Texas. The war ended before he finished training. He moved back home to Opelika and was a mechanic and a substitute mail carrier until he joined the FBI and moved to Washington, D.C. in 1946. He attended night school at Ben Franklin University, studying accounting and law. He married Bette Ann Moore on June 25, 1948, and they were married 72 years until her death in April of 2021. He has three daughters, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVER
