Archer Bertram Battista

"Colonel Archer B. Battista, USAFR (Ret.) took the Final Flight West on July 24, 2016. Born on May 23, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio, to the late Archie J. Battista of New York City and Barbara Schuchman Battista of Homestead, Pennsylvania, he was 70 years of age. Colonel Battista devoted thirty-three years of commissioned service to active duty and reserve Air Force assignments, retiring as a command pilot in the grade of Colonel. His combat and combat support roles included well over two hundred missions in the skies over the former Republic of Viet Nam and the Kingdom of Laos, for which he was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and twenty Air Medals as well as other individual and unit citations, and multiple missions to Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He was especially proud to wear campaign medals for his personal participation in combat operations in Southeast Asia (1970-1971) and Southwest Asia (1990-1991). Mr. Battista is a graduate of the Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Upon completion of his active duty service Mr. Battista graduated from Western New England School of Law and, from 1977 until 2013, he practiced law while remaining engaged in his Air Force commitment to flying assignments and middle and senior military management missions. He retired from Air Force service in 2001. At the time of his death, Mr. Battista was of counsel with the firm of Lyon and Fitzpatrick, LLP in Holyoke, Massachusetts. A strong proponent of the organized bar, Mr. Battista served as president of the Hampden County Bar Association, as well as a member of its board of directors and subsequently as an ex officio director. He remained true to his Air Force family, participating in a years long battle to gain recognition of claims brought on behalf of aircrews and maintainers who flew and worked on post-Viet Nam C-123K Agent Orange spray birds after it was discovered that these men and women were being diagnosed with so-called Agent Orange presumptive diseases. After years of administrative battles and litigation, the Department of Veterans Affairs conceded the legitimacy of these claims and opened its system of medical care and other benefits to Mr. Battista's Air Force Reserve colleagues at Westover and at other Air Force Reserve bases. Most recently, and remaining true to his commitment to military veterans, Colonel Battista was instrumental in establishing a Veterans Treatment Court with jurisdiction over the three Pioneer Valley counties. This Court addresses the unique situation of military veterans who become ensnared in the criminal justice system, offering specialized supervision and care to those who have sacrificed so much for their country and its citizens. These two initiatives resulted in the presentation to Mr. Battista of the Adams Pro Bono Publico by the Commonwealth's Supreme Judicial Court in 2015 and he was recognized by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in January, 2016 as one of its 2016 Lawyers of the Year. Colonel Battista is survived by his wife of thirty years and best friend, Judy Battista of Belchertown, their son, Alan Christopher Battista, of New Bedford, his brother, Christopher in Lake Oswego, OR, his cousins in Phoenix, AZ and Northern California, his brother- and sister-in-law and nieces and nephews in New Rochelle, NY, Baltimore, MD, and Northern California. And, of course, his beloved dogs, Scout and Covey. Arch and Judy salute his dedicated medical team: Dr. Matthew Smith, Kara and Carol of MGH, Boston; Dr. Barrett Newsome and his colleagues at MGH Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson; Jill and the Cooley Dick Hospice group; and their Friends at the Leeds VAMC, Bill, Mark, and Kimberley. Calling hours will be held on Friday, July 29, 2016 from 4:00-7:00 p.m at the Beers and Story Belchertown Funeral Home. A Graveside service with military honors will be Monday, Aug. 1st at 11:00 a.m. at the Mass. Veterans' Memorial Cemetery, Main Street, Agawam. In lieu of flowers the Battistas suggest financial donations to the Colonel Archer B. Battista Veterans Scholarship Fund, with checks made payable to the Hamden County Bar Association, P.O. Box 559, Springfield, MA 01102-0559. For more information, please contact Noreen Nardi at 413-552-9424. "