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By Silvia and Percy Magoun

Percy Magoun, my husband, reached a milestone of 100 years in November 2023. After the big birthday party, when all the guests had gone home, we sat down to reflect on the activities of the day. Percy started reminiscing about the high points in his life. Then I came up with the idea I should record it for others who might find it interesting. 

Percy was born in the state of Maine about 10 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. He reflected on his early teen years when he would go skiing in the winter months with a lunch box strapped to his back, and in the summer months, he would go swimming in the ponds, namely Alden’s pond. By the age of 17, all the fun activities came to an end when his folks announced they were moving south to a warmer climate. They sold their farm and essentially all their worldly goods. They had a custom-built trailer made and hitched it to the back of their automobile and started south, no destination in mind. Now, wouldn’t you know, when they traveled south through New York in 1940, the World’s Fair was taking place at a site called Flushing Meadows [in Queens]. They parked their trailer on a cliff overlooking the fair and spent a day enjoying the sights and sounds before continuing on south. They came on down to Virginia when they saw some land that was for sale. They stopped, purchased it and built a home. 

At the age of 19, Percy enlisted in the U.S. Navy during WWII, January 1943. He trained at Bainbridge, Maryland, as a radioman. After finishing his basic training, he traveled aboard a troop train across the U.S. from Bain Bridge to the San Francisco, California area, where he embarked aboard the USS Chester one evening at sunset, sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge on his way to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He spent two-plus years in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. He served in the invasion of the Mariana and Palau Islands and the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, being awarded three battle stars. He served in the Cold War from 1945 to 1991. After serving in WWII, he returned to the United States aboard a submarine chaser to the San Diego/Los Angeles area where he was discharged. He remained in the area a few days after being discharged, visiting Hollywood where he enjoyed some live radio broadcast shows. 

The first thing he did after returning home was purchase a bright red motor scooter and take a two-week cross-country trip from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific coast. 

After finishing all the fun things, he set out to doing more serious things. He took some postgraduate courses in Virginia before going to Washington, DC and graduating from Capital Engineering institute under the G.I. Bill. After graduating, he returned home to Virginia and worked at some local radio and television stations. 

In 1954, Percy came to Lexington, Kentucky to build and operate Lexington’s first television station, Channel 18. After his tenure at Channel 18, he went on to pursue some of his academic interests, returning in 1984.