Colonel Charles H. MacDonald, the USAAF’s third ranking ace in the Pacific Theater during World War II, began his distinguished career as a flying cadet at Randolph Field in 1938. His early assignments included pursuit flying training in the 20th Pursuit Group...
Walker Melville “Bud” Mahurin was the first American double ace in Europe during World War II. Born in 1918 in Benton Harbor, Michigan, Mahurin developed an interest in flying at the age of 12 when his father took him for a ride in a Stinson. Some years...
Karl H. Maier is a courageous and accomplished Army Aviator. Within a thirty-eight year military career, he flew major combat operations in UH-60s and MH-6s. Maier enlisted in the Army in 1975, attending Military Police School and Airborne School. In March 1984, after...
Colonel Waclaw Makowski’s achievements in aviation span 46 years during which time he fought for the freedom of his homeland in two wars, and helped establish an air force and two national airlines. Born in 1897 in Tsarist-controlled Poland, he was inducted into...
LeRoy J. Manor is a combat veteran of World War II and the Vietnam War, and accumulated over 6,500 flight hours in fighter aircraft. He is best known for commanding the Joint Contingency Task Group that conducted Operation Ivory Coast and Operation Kingpin in 1970,...
Retired Air Force Chief Master Sargent William CalvinMarkham is a long time Air Force Special Operations Command quiet professional. CMSgt Markham grew up in Waukesha Wisconsin, and enlisted in the Air Force in June 1986. He began his career in Security Forces before...
Captain David McCampbell is the US Navy’s “ace of aces.” Born in 1910, the Alabama native graduated from Annapolis in the midst of Navy manpower cutbacks during the Depression and was honorably discharged in 1933. Called back to active duty 1 year...
In March 1943, a special Royal Air Force (RAF) unit, 617 Squadron, was created to try a new tactic–low altitude bombing using deep penetration bombs that weighed from 9,500 to 22,000 pounds. Their first targets were three dams in the Ruhr industrial area of...
In August 1960, Lieutenant General Forrest McCartney took the first photographs of the USSR recovered from outer space, ushering in a revolution in intelligence gathering. McCartney was born 23 March 1931 in Fort Payne, Alabama. He received a bachelor of science...
James McClain was a Navigator on the B-24D “Liberator” during Operation TIDAL WAVE, a daring low-level attack on the Ploesti, Romania oil refineries on August 1st, 1943. McClain was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1923, and attended high school in Waterloo, Iowa. He...
Long before the United States entered World War II, Americans flew with the Royal Air Force in the renowned “Eagle” Squadrons. Of these US pilots who left their indelible mark in the skies over Europe and in the hearts of the British people, Carroll...
James M. McCoy was adviser to Secretary of the Air Force Hans Mark and Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Lew Allen Jr., on matters concerning welfare, effective utilization, and progress of the enlisted members of the Air Force. He was the sixth Chief Master...
US Navy Captain Scott McCuskey is a World War II ace credited with 13 1/2 aerial victories during combat in the Battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, and the Philippine Sea. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1915, he attended the Universities of Alabama and Arkansas...
Chief Warrant Officer Five (CW5) Lance McElhiney has been instrumental in developing attack helicopter operations for the U.S. Army while imbuing a warrior ethos in countless Army aviators. McElhiney was born in Peoria, Illinois in 1946. He graduated from high school...
Colonel Charles E. McGee is one of three original Tuskegee fighter pilots to have fought during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He completed 409 fighter combat missions, the highest three-war fighter mission total of any aviator in the history of the United States...
Lawrence E. “Larry” McKay commanded “The Blue Max,” an attack helicopter unit that delivered the decisive blow during the Vietnam War’s Battle of An Locthe first armor battle in which armed helicopters proved their lethality and changed...
Melvin A. McKenzie played a critical role during America’s fighting retreat in the Pacific in the opening days of World War II. As a member of the 19th Bombardment Group, McKenzie was a part of the pioneering mission that ferried Army Air Corps front-line B-17...
William T. “Tom” Meredith is the father of today’s US Air Force (AF) civil engineer (CE) forces. He led the development and fielding of Prime Base Emergency Engineer Force (BEEF) and Rapid Engineer Deployable, Heavy Operational Repair Squadron,...
Alfred “Paul” Metz has the distinction of being the only pilot to have made the first flight and subsequent flight tests of both Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) designs offered to the USAF as the future air superiority fighter. Metz was born in...
The first American to fly the Harrier, Lieutenant General Thomas Miller earned his wings and commission in the US Marine Corps in March 1943. A native of San Antonio, Texas, he flew over 100 combat missions in the F4U Corsair during World War II. After a short tour as...
As one of the US Army’s most decorated pilots in the Vietnam conflict, Hugh Mills flew over 2,000 combat hours and was instrumental in developing many of the Army’s standard air cavalry aero scout tactics. After enlisting in the Army in 1967 as a...
Colonel John W. Mitchell planned and led one of the longest fighter interception missions of World War II. That mission resulted in the shooting down of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. After graduating from flying school in 1940, Colonel Mitchell was assigned to...
Decorated veteran, Colonel (ret) William D. “Hawk” Mol flew 100 combat missions during the Korean War in F-80’s dropping bombs and rockets striking land targets and supporting ground troops. After the Korean War, Col Mol continued to serve in the United States...
Harold G. “Hal” Moore Jr. graduated from West Point in 1945 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry. He served as a paratrooper for a rifle platoon in Japan. His next assignment was with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina....
As one of the first Americans to see combat in World War II, Joseph H. Moore shot down two enemy aircraft on his first combat mission. Born in 1914, he left South Carolina in 1937 to enter the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet training program and earned his wings and...
Destined to become the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, Thomas Moorer’s life was marked by success. At age 15 he was valedictorian of his high school class, and 2 years later entered Annapolis. Graduating in 1933, he served as a gunnery officer...
The vision and guidance of General Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., made an enduring contribution to our nation’s national security space leadership and the integration of space into our warfighting doctrine. Commissioned as an Air Force officer in 1962, Moorman served...
Robert K. Morgan commanded one of the Army Air Force’s most famous heavy bombers during World War 11. Although many crews later completed 25 combat sorties, Morgan and the other nine men of the “Memphis Belle” were the first to reach that goal as a...
Alan R. Mulally brought together a worldwide team of engineers and companies that, “working together,” changed the way airplanes are designed and built. Born in 1945, Mulally grew up in Kansas and had a childhood love of drawing and a youthful fascination...
James P. Muri was born in Carterville, Montana, to a cattle ranching family on 19 October 1918, grew up during the Great Depression and developed a love for football and pole vaulting. In 1936, he graduated from Custer County High School, and immediately enlisted in...
Frank MurrayFrank Murray was one of only six pilots to fly the A-12 for the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) legendary Oxcart program. Frank Murray was born into an Army family on 21 September 1930, the son of a professional Army soldier and an Army nurse,...
Stanton R. MusserStanton R. Musser was an Air Force pioneer and exceptional leader. Within a military career spanning 31 years and experiences ranging from Thunderbird pilot to military advisor in Egypt, he accumulated 4,500 hours flying F-4s, F-15s, F-100s, and O-1s....
