Staff Sergeant Ted B. Braden

Ted Burdette Braden Jr.'s mother was Mary Helen (Decker) Dearbaugh (1909 - 1997) and his father was Ted Burdette Braden Sr. (1907 - 1961). He had a half-brother Clifford Eugene Dearbaugh (1932 - 2014). Ted Braden married Rosalind Lauer Robinson (1926 - 2011) and served his country in the 101st Airborne during World War II, and again in Vietnam. In the 1950 federal census, Ted was 21, married and living in Columbus Georgia. He was a boarder in the house of Cecil and Breta Jones. Also in the household were Ted and Rosalind's 3 children. Ted stated that he was a gambler in the entertainment industry. A newspaper article from about that time shows his financial circumstances. See Georgia, Muscogee County. It is speculated that Ted may have been the infamous "D.B. Cooper". The 2020 book "Paratrooper of Fortune: The Story of Ted B. Braden - Vietnam Commando, CIA Operative, Congo Mercenary, and just maybe D.B. Cooper" provides an intriguing case. See Paratrooper of Fortune: The Story of Ted B. Braden" for a review and synopsis of the book. A 2012 article from The Mountain News in the Washington State also listed several people who were suspected of being D.B. Cooper, one of whom was Ted Braden Jr.. See Suspects in the DB Cooper skyjacking – sketches, pictures and comparisons for more details. This theory that Ted Braden was the notorious hijacker "D.B. Cooper" continues today. There are plenty of suspicions, but little proof. To see the most recent December 2022 article about Ted, go to WHY TED BRADEN KEEPS COMING UP AS A SUSPECTED D.B. COOPER .