No matter how old they are, adult children almost always continue to do their parents' bidding, which is why Vietnam veteran Renton Bean returned home to participate in Sunday's Remembrance Day parade at his mother Muriel's request.

The man who once served in the Bermuda Militia Artillery and the Bermuda Regiment, and later the United States Air Force, flew in especially from his home in Ft. Washington, Maryland to join his fellow veterans in commemorating those who made the supreme sacrifice in battle so that others might live in freedom.

Mr. Bean, whose father was the late Police Det. Sgt. Sinclair Bean, served in Vietnam from 1968-9 as a United States Air Force flight engineer, stationed in Cam Rahn Bay.

"It was dangerous; yes, the airplane came back with bullet holes; and yes, we got hit, but I never fired a gun the whole time I was there — I didn't have time," he says.

As always in a war theatre, those who survive the experience come away with mixed memories. On the one hand, Mr. Bean recalls with pleasure the four-day trips he flew three times a month to Hong Kong, Bangkok, the Philippines or Singapore.

"I died and went to heaven," he smiles on recalling those days. "I did every (sightseeing) tour that was offered. I was there so often that I had done everything. In fact, I was getting bored, so in Hong Kong I visited the Communist Chinese library to read their literature."

On the other, there is the indelible memory of Thanksgiving Day, 1968 when, as the Bermudian flight engineer sat in a military aircraft eating a cold chicken box lunch, he could see the coffins bearing the remains of dead comrades.

"I'll never forget that," he says softly.

Although he had participated in previous Bermuda Remembrance Day parades as a member of the local forces, this year's event was different for the former USAF sergeant.

"I had never been on the receiving end of the ceremony, so when the acting Governor came to review the veterans, and everyone had been told to stand at ease except us, then it really dawned on me, 'Wow, this is about me. I went on parade for me'," he says.

Although he was "totally surprised" when approached to be one of the leaders at the front of the columns of veterans, there was no doubting the pride he felt as he marched smartly along Front Street. In fact, Mr. Bean says he enjoyed the ceremony so much that he has already decided to participate again next year.

Growing up the only boy in a household of five sisters (Sheila, Sandra, Cynthia, Mariea and Ouida), Renton Bean's fascination with aviation began in earliest childhood. All he ever wanted to be was a pilot, and he spent "every penny" of his pocket money on model airplanes kits.

"That is what I did as a kid," he says. "I had models all over the place, and every time the Phoenix got a new one I bought it."

From Central School, he went on to the Bermuda Technical Institute from which he graduated as a fully qualified automotive engineer.

To some, that might have seemed irrelevant to aviation, but Mr. Bean saw it as a stepping stone: he had heard about jet engines but knew nothing about them, and decided that the best place to fulfil his burning desire to learn more more was by joining an organisation which had plenty of them.

Thus it was that in 1966 the teenager bade farewell to his 21-square-mile island home and emigrated to America, where he passed the Airman's Qualifying Examinations with such good scores that they placed him as a crew chief on reciprocating engine aircraft. Onward and upward it would be thereafter.

Mr. Bean's initial posting was to Indian Springs, Nevada, following which he spent two years in Vietnam as a flight engineer — "the man who sits in the middle between the two pilots and does everything but fly the aircraft".

Then it was home to civilian life in the US, where he not only gained his Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering at St. Louis University's Parks College, but also his pilot's and aircraft mechanic's licences. He then joined the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Wichita, Kansas and spent 13 years a flight test engineer and pilot.

"I flew where, when and how I wanted," Mr. Bean recalls. "Coming from Bermuda, you cannot imagine the thrill I got looking at a desert, a plateau, mountains, rivers — things I had read about at Central School."

In 1989 he moved to the FAA's Washington, DC headquarters as its resident expert on the production of policy pertaining to the continued airworthiness requirements for aeronautical products — or "writing the rules, regulations and policy used to keep airplanes flying" as he puts it.

Mr. Bean also represented the United States on missions to China, Russia and Germany with the aim of getting these nations to meet US airworthiness certification standards for their aircraft — something which adds great value to their price because the US standard is considered the benchmark for the industry, and the FAA's aim is to reach total harmonisation between all countries.

Certainly, the Bermudian expert was a puzzle to his counterparts in Russia because they could not understand how he could be not only an aerospace engineer, but also a licensed mechanic and a commercial pilot as well, since each qualification is a specialty in its own right.

"Not in my wildest dreams growing up in Bermuda did I ever imagine that I would be in Moscow as an invited guest, nor yet that I would have the head of Aeroflot showing me around St. Petersburg from the air and the ground," he recalls. "It was just amazing."

As a child, Mr. Bean wanted to be a pilot, but when he grew up he wanted to be a lawyer, he says, so in 1999, while working at his regular job, he added a law degree to his many qualifications. Still based in Washington, DC, he now provides legal advice to the FAA's aircraft certification service — the same group for whom he once worked as an engineer.

"Everyone recognises that I bring a uniqueness to the table because I argue both sides of the evidence," he says. "People who listen to me say, 'He's a lawyer, how the hell does he know that?' They don't know what my pedigree is, but when they find out they come around — that's the beauty of it. My job is to make sure that due process of the law is followed. If they do something from the engineering standpoint that is not sound, I also straighten them out."

Asked if the now-desk-bound expert misses being physically involved with aircraft, Mr. Bean responds: "Only when I am around them".

For a man who has fulfilled his boyhood ambitions in aviation and law, and for whom the FAA continues to be his sole civilian employer, he is also a typically kind-hearted Bermudian who loves giving back to the community, so on Saturday mornings he tutors fourth graders in English and mathematics, a highly successful programme sponsored by the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha Upsilon Tan Omega Chapter.

He is also an avid reader who has "three or four" books on the go at once.

Tom Clancy is his favourite author, but he also enjoys the work of John Grisham who writes about lawyers.

Mr. Bean is married to Marcia, a media specialist at the FAA, and their daughter Marcisha is currently pursuing her Master's degree in electrical engineering.

Part of his morning routine is reading The Royal Gazette on line and checking the Bermuda Weather Service webcam. In addition, he likes to return home "three or four times a year".

Looking back over his life, the man who bears an uncanny resemblance to the late CBS journalist Ed Bradley credits his parents, sisters and Central School with much of who he is today.

"My parents never told me 'No' (in terms of what I wanted to do), and my mother, sisters and Central School made a gentleman of me," he says. "(Domestically), my 'job' was to sample the food my mother and sisters cooked, but on rainy days the majority ruled, so I can iron, sew and braid hair. I had to do everything they did inside the house."