More detail on this person: Michael C. Kruse (Mike) passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 16, 2019 after a long battle with leukemia. Mike was born on December 10, 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri, the oldest of five children born to Alice Bridget Kruse (nee Neary) and Clarence Frederick Kruse. He is preceded in death by his parents Clarence and Alice. He is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 48 years, Barbara (nee Summerlin), daughter Nicole Marie (Alec) Haugdahl, son Scott (Rachel) Kruse, grandchildren Aubrey Kate Haugdahl, Carson Bennett Haugdahl, Maddox Michael Kruse, and four siblings: Pat (Gail) Kruse, Tim (Mary) Kruse, Steve (Christy) Kruse, Mary (Greg) Banks, and many nieces and nephews. A native of Missouri, he grew up hunting, fishing and spending time outdoors. Mike was a police officer in St. Louis and he loved to skydive. After relocating to Florida, Mike spent a lot of time fishing the flats of St. Marks and St. Andrews Bay with his wife Barbara. He was a very talented artist who specialized in wildlife paintings and colored pencil drawings. Mike worked in the Floorcovering sales industry for many years. Mike was a good man, an accomplished aviator and valiant soldier. He was a member of the 195th Assault Helicopter Company (AHC) in Vietnam, which was a specially trained and equipped clandestine unit that put small recon units into Cambodia to monitor Viet Cong and North Vietnamese armed units as they made incursion into South Vietnam. The ground forces were comprised of U.S. Special Forces and indigenous forces, part of a unit called Studies and Observations Group (SOG). Operations in Cambodia at that time were illegal, and the insert ships UH1-H (Huey) helicopters he flew were painted camouflage and bore no markings. They wore sterile uniforms and carried no identification so that "the Secretary could disavow any knowledge." Mike inserted recon units into teeny-tiny holes in the forest where the enemy would never suspect, then descended into the triple-canopy forest to extract teams who were under fire. He started out as an apprentice pilot and worked his way up to Aircraft Commander. Mike embodied heroic courage, generosity and a wonderful sense of humor. He will be greatly missed by all. Friends and family are invited to join in celebrating his life. Visitation will be held at 9:00 am on Friday, February 22 at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Tallahassee, Florida with a Memorial Mass service to follow at 10:00 am. There will be a reception in the church hall following the service. He will be buried at the Tallahassee National Cemetery with Military Honors on Monday February 25, 2019 at 10am. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Mike's memory.
Burial information: Tallahassee National Cemetery, Tallahassee, FL
This information was last updated 05/26/2020
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Date posted on this site: 10/13/2025
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