Former Air Force One pilot for LBJ dies in Texas at 90

GATESVILLE, Texas — A military pilot who served as an aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson and flew Air Force One has died in Texas.

Retired Brig. Gen. James "Jim" Cross died Saturday in Gatesville. He was 90. Bill Cole with Scott's Funeral Home in Gatesville said Monday that Cross died of natural causes at a nursing facility.

A service was planned Tuesday at the funeral home. A funeral was scheduled Friday in Andalusia, Alabama, at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, with burial at the church cemetery.

The LBJ Presidential Library in Austin issued a statement mourning the Alabama native and remembering Cross as a close friend of the Johnson family.

Cross wrote a book, "Around The World With LBJ: My Wild Ride As Air Force One Pilot, White House Aide, And Personal Confidant."

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