Colonel (Retired) Melvin ‘Mel’ Bryant was a fighter pilot who served during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was born in Hiawatha, Kansas in 1924 and spent his childhood working on family farms and in his father’s grocery store. Despite his farming roots, Mel...
In 1973, Americans welcomed home their returning Vietnam prisoners of war (POWs). Among those released heroes walked then-Colonel James Robinson “Robbie” Risner. During 33 years of service, he fought in three wars and twice received the Air Force’s...
Ralph Sherman Parr is a jet fighter ace whose unique combination of flying ability, significant achievement, and heroic service span three wars and five combat tours. Born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on 1 July 1924, the son of a Navy pilot, he received his wings and was...
Dolphin D. “Dolph” Overton, III shot down five communist fighter aircraft to become an ace in only four days during the Korean War. born in Andrews, South Carolina, he began flying at a young age and had had soloed in a Piper J-3 Cub by age 16. He attended The Citadel...
James H. Kasler is the only person ever to be decorated with three Air Force Crosses. Born in South Bend, Indiana, in 1926, he completed high school in Indianapolis. He then enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in May 1944. He flew combat missions...
As a Korean War double jet ace, Colonel (ret) James K. Johnson’s career produced many “firsts. ” Graduating from the University of Arizona in 1939, he entered the Army Air Corps and attended pilot training at Randolph and Kelly Fields, receiving his...
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you Bob Hoover, the greatest stick-and-rudder pilot who ever lived.” That airshow introduction from General “Jimmy” Doolittle only scratches the surface of the military and civilian career of someone...
Ralph D. “Hoot” Gibson is one of the few “MiG killers” to become an Ace in Korea. He joined US Army Air Force in 1943 and graduated from flying training in 1944 as a flight officer. He did not fly combat in World War II, but observed the...
Francis “Gabby” Gabreski, was a member of “The Inner Seven,” an elite group of pilots who achieved the status of “ace ” in both World War II and Korea. Born in Pennsylvania in 1919, he attended Notre Dame University where he learned...
Harold E. Fischer began his military career as a Navy cadet, was commissioned into the Army, and transferred to the Air Force where he became the United States’ 25th jet Ace. Born in 1925, he grew up as a farm boy in Iowa. In 1944, Fischer became a Navy cadet,...
Charles G. “Chick” Cleveland was born in 1927 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1945. Graduating in 1949, he chose to become an aviator and earned his pilot wings at Williams AFB, Arizona. He was...
Earl Brown began military flying at the dawn of the jet age. Born in the Bronx, New York, he grew up in Englewood, New Jersey. He first dreamed of being a pilot after reading about the “Tuskegee Airmen” in two major black weekly newspapers he delivered...
Jack Bolt is the only Marine Corps ace of the Korean War, and one of only seven Americans to become an ace in two wars! Born in Laurens, South Carolina in 1921, he studied at the University of Florida for 2 years. In the summer of 1941, he joined the Marine Corps...
