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...
An ace, credited with 13 aerial victories, Brigadier General Robert E. Galer received the nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for conspicuous heroism in aerial combat during the Guadalcanal campaign. Born 23 October 1913 in Seattle, Galer...
Germany’s Adolf Galland is one of the best known fighter pilots and personalities of World War II, achieving 104 aerial victories on the Western Front and becoming the first person in the German armed forces to receive the Swords to the Knight’s Cross....
Lt Col Samuel “Sam” Galloway was born 2 June 1947 in Milan, Tennessee. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1969, with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering; the first in his family to obtain a college degree. Galloway enlisted in the Air Force on 20...
Author, filmmaker, artist, seafarer, adventurer, rancher, conservationist … all aptly describe Ernest K. Gann, but first and foremost, he is an aviator! He has flown everything from World War I aircraft to the U-2 and F-15, and brought his deep love of flight to...
Appropriately for one of America’s “winningest” military aviators, Vermont Garrison was born in Mount Victory, Kentucky, on 29 October 1915. Raised in the Appalachians, he farmed and worked in timber while in high school and then earned a teaching...
During the Battle of Midway, 15 torpedo bombers from Torpedo Squadron 8 were launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet and none of them returned. The only survivor was George Gay, a 25-year-old native of Waco, Texas. He had been shot down less than 1 year after...
Gen (Ret) Jeffrey Harrigian was selected as an Eagle for his significant contributions to airpower and air combat. Prior to his retirement, he was the commander of United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa from May 2020 to June 2022. He concurrently...
Gene Kranz began his aeronautic journey in the USAF as a F-86 pilot, with a tour in Korea. Back in the US, he joins the early space program and becomes one of the first and most iconic NASA’s flight directors, in charge for famous missions such as Gemini 5,...
Commander, Air Force Materiel Command General Janet Wolfenbarger pioneered air, space, and cyberspace power throughout her 35-year career. She was a member of the first class of women admitted to the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in 1976. She was the first...
Marine Corps Pilot Colonel (Retired) Gerald “Gerry” Berry had an extensive military career, spending 25 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Colonel Berry was born in Anaconda, Montana and later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on 1 January 1968. He completed flight...
Robert Henry Maxwell “Bobby” Gibbes is one of Australia’s leading World War II aces and the pioneer of one of the first airlines to open up inland areas of Papua New Guinea. Born in 1916 in New South Wales, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force...
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...
Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson logged more than 36 days in space during five shuttle missions! Born in Cooperstown, New York, in 1946, he considers Lakewood, California his hometown. After graduation from California Polytechnic University with a degree in...
Paul Gillcrist’s pilot log documents over 6,000 flying hours in 71 different types of aircraft, many of which were flown from 16 different carriers! Gillcrist was born in 1929 in Chicago, Illinois. At 17, he entered Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, but...
Robert J. “Bob” Gilliland has the distinct honor of being the first man to fly the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, forever marking his place in history. He was a distinguished Air Force fighter pilot, fighter test pilot and Lockheed Skunk Works test pilot....
Kevin A. “Mike” Gilroy is among the most highly decorated Electronic Warfare Officers (EWO) in the US Air Force. Born in Menlo Park, California, his love of flying led him to enlist in the Air Force in 1953. After 6 years as a jet engine mechanic, he...
Boleslaw Gladych was one of the few who flew for four air forces–the Polish, French, British and US–during WWII. Born in 1910 in Warsaw, Poland, Gladych shaved eight years off his age in order to gain entrance to the military preparatory school. In 1937,...
The first American to orbit the earth, John Glenn embodies the spirit of a true aerospace pioneer. Graduating from high school in New Concord, Ohio, in 1939, he enrolled in nearby Muskingum College. There he began his aviation career, learning to fly in a Navy program...
Captain Victor J. Glover, Jr. was selected as an Eagle for his numerous contributions to air and space. He is a NASA astronaut, a Navy F-18/AF Test Pilot, and pilot for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first crew rotational flight of a U.S. commercial spacecraft with...
It took less than three months of World War II action for Robert J. “Bob” Goebel to become a Double Ace flying the North American P-51 Mustang. Goebel, the youngest of seven children, was born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin. At age 19, he entered the U.S....
Sabiha Gökçen is the world’s first female fighter pilot. Born in Bursa, Turkey in 1913, she was orphaned early in life. Fortune began to smile on her in 1925, when the founder and President of the new Republic of Turkey, Kemal Atatürk, took her under his wing....
The courage, dedication, and airmanship of Horacio Mir Gonzalez set a fine example for the fighter pilots of Fuerza Aerea Argentina (FAA), the Argentine Air Force, during the 1982 Malvinas Conflict. Born the son of a fighter pilot in 1947, Mir Gonzalez always dreamed...
José González flew combat during World War II over the epic allied amphibious assaults on Italy, in the lonely night sky above China, and over the steaming jungles of Burma. González, whose lineage includes Cuban, Dutch, and Irish ancestors, was born in 1921 in New...
Gordon M. Graham fought in three wars, logging 9,000 hours in 78 types of aircraft, including 73 combat missions in Europe and 149 in Southeast Asia, and was decorated 55 times in a US Air Force career that took him from cadet to lieutenant general, from biplanes to...
Leo Gray is a veteran pilot of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, and first all-black flying group to see combat. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Gray volunteered for the Army Air Corps shortly after high school and began his aviation...
Herschel “Herky” Green is a triple ace credited with 18 aerial victories in World War II. Green was born and grew up in rural western Kentucky. When two ” barnstormers” made an emergency landing near his school, the five-year-old invited them...
Thomas C. “Tom” Griffin was the navigator on B-25 number nine, the Whirling Dervish , during the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. He was born on 10 July 1917 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts degree in...
Thomas E. Griffith Jr. was the weapons system operator when his F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down during the early days of Operation DESERT STORM. After a successful ejection, then Major Griffith and his pilot Col. David Eberly evaded the Iraqi forces for two days...
Robert Gutierrez Jr., was born in Chula Vista, California, on 15 February 1980. He enlisted in the United States Air Force in July 2002. After completing Combat Control training in December 2004, he spent the next few years honing his skills, ultimately graduating...
