Japan’s greatest living Ace, Saburo Sakai fought for his country from the war in China in 1938 to the last day of WW II. Fighting in more than 200 engagements, he is credited with 64 aerial victories, and never lost a wingman! Born in 1916 on a small farming...
Ed Saylor was the flight engineer for crew #15 of the Doolittle Raiders when it carried out that historic bombing mission over Japan on 18 April 1942. Saylor was born in Brusett, Montana, on 15 March 1920. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 7 December 1939, at Fort...
Wolfgang “Bombo” Schenck was the first man to command a jet aircraft unit in combat and is considered one of the most diversified pilots to fly for the Luftwaffe during World War II. Born in Windhoek, German Southwest Africa, he was schooled in Germany and...
COMMBAT CONTROLLER AND SPECIAL TACTICS OFFICER Lieutenant Colonel (ret) Dan Schilling spent more than 30 years in the military, primarily as a Combat Controller and Special Tactics Officer, though he proudly started his career as an infantry grunt. His numerous combat...
Walter Schirra was one of the original seven US astronauts and the only astronaut to fly in America’s first three manned space programs–Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. Born in 1923, he had “aviation in his blood;” his father was a WW I fighter...
In 20 years with the Air Force, “Russ” Schleeh flew and tested virtually every bomber from America’s war-winning B-17 Flying Fortress to today’s strategic workhorse, the B-52 Stratofortress. A born competitor and gifted athlete, he earned a...
Heinrich Schmetz was a pioneer in the testing Hand employment of precision guided munitions in World War II. After beginning his lifetime in aviation piloting gliders at age 14, Schmetz entered the Luftwaffe in 1935 and after navigator training was sent to...
Warren “Smoky” Schrader commanded the only allied jet fighter squadron to see combat in World War II. Born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1921, he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force at age 19. After basic training he traveled to Canada and England,...
Bernard Adolph Schriever, the father of the Air Force Space and Missile Program, was born in Germany in 1910. At the age of six, Schriever came to the US and settled with his family in New Braunfels, Texas before becoming a naturalized citizen in 1923. He graduated...
Lieutenant Colonel William R.Schwertfeger was born in Enid, Oklahoma 22 September 1945 and grew up near Medford, Oklahoma. He graduated from Oklahoma State University 30 June 1967 and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force through the Air Force...
Determined to one day “own the sky,” Robert L. Scott, Jr., dreamed of flying from the day he saw his first aircraft. At the age of 12, he attempted to fly a homemade glider from the roof of a three-story house, but cleared only the first tree when the wing...
Mike Sears led 50,000 people who designed, produced, and supported military aircraft, missiles, and munitions to defend the United States and its allies around the globe. Sears was born in St.Louis, Missouri, in 1947 and, after high school, went to Purdue University...
Dawn Seymour was one of America’s first female military pilots as a member of the volunteer Women’s Auxiliary Service, known as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). Seymour grew up in a family of seven children in Rochester, New York. She earned her Bachelor of...
Edward Shames was a member of the renowned Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, commonly referred to as the “Band of Brothers”. Born in Norfolk, Virginia on 13 June 1922, Shames was called to active duty in August 1942 and was involved in some of the...
Joshua Shani flew lead in one of history’s most dramatic and successful aerial commando operations. Upon graduation from the Israeli Air Force (IAF) Academy, he received his wings in 1965 and began a career in airlift and special operations, first flying the...
Joe Shannon nearly died trying to provide air cover for Cuban patriots stranded on the beach at the Bay of Pigs! Shannon was born in rural Alabama in 1921. At age 6, he got his first taste of aviation. He met Charles Lindbergh and saw his single-engine Ryan monoplane,...
Lieutenant Colonel Brewster Shaw was the pilot for the STS-9 space shuttle mission, the shuttle’s first Spacelab flight. Born in May 1945, he received bachelor and master’s degrees in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin before entering...
General William Shelton was born in Tulsa Oklahoma February25th 1954. He graduated from Moore High School in 1972 and was accepted to the United States Air Force Academy, graduating in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering. He has served in...
Alan Shepard was the first American in space and the fifth man to set foot on the moon. He received an appointment to the US Naval Academy in 1941, graduating 3 years later in an accelerated World War II class. Shepard first served aboard a destroyer, the USS...
Maj Gen Donald W. Shepperd was born in San Antonio, TX in 1940 and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1962. After graduation and pilot training, he was assigned to a fighter squadron in West Germany. After five years in the Air Force, Shepperd deployed to...
Robert J. Shoens was the pilot of the B-17 Flying Fortress Our Gal Sal, assigned to the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group based at Royal Air Force Station Thorpe Abbotts in England. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he benefitted from his parents’ military legacy....
Brian Shul was born in Quantico, Virginia, in 1948. He graduated from East Carolina University in 1970 with a Bachelor’s Degree in history. Later that year he joined the Air Force and attended pilot training at Reese AFB, Texas. Following pilot training, he was...
Air Marshal Alexander Silantiev, the first Russian to be honored at the Gathering of Eagles, was born 23 August 1918, in Sverdlovsk in the Urals. He developed an early interest in aviation, flying gliders, skydiving, and receiving his pilot instructor license while...
Donald K. “Deke” Slayton is one of America’s original seven astronauts. He was born in Sparta, Wisconsin, in 1924 and entered the Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet in 1942. He earned his wings and commission in April 1943 and was assigned to the...
Jack Smith logged more than 12,000 hours in his aviation career, first in the United States Marine Corps (USMC), and later with Air America, Southern Air Transport and Civil Air Transport. Born 4 June 1932, in Sioux City, Iowa, he grew up and then graduated from high...
In a military career spanning 35 years, Lieutenant General Joseph Smith made many contributions to strategic bombardment, air transport, military education, and top-echelon planning. Graduating from the US Military Academy in 1923, he was assigned to the Eighth...
Imagine going to war while your country is at peace and having to keep it a secret. That was the situation for Missouri native “Tuck” Smith when he was awakened at 0300 on 28 March 1941, while aboard a seaplane tender in beautiful Acapulco Bay, Mexico. A...
Appropriate for an American aviation pioneer, Maurice R. Smith was born on the 4th of July, 1894. He attended Yale where he majored in economics, played football and baseball, and excelled in wrestling. He also found time to join ROTC as a member of the “Yale...
William Y. Smith is an inspiration of perseverance through adversity. Born on 13 August 1925 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, he was the first in his family (who were established in the legal profession) to pursue a military career. Smith graduated from the US Military...
As an ace in both piston-powered aircraft and jets, Wolfgang Späte is a member of a unique group within the fraternity of fighter pilots. He also flew the first combat mission ever in a rocket-powered fighter–which placed him among those who opened the door to...
William W. “Bill” Spruance, a pioneer in the early use of aircraft in the forward air control role, flew 362 missions in the China-India-Burma Theater and continues to be a major force in aviation. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, Spruance received his...
Ulrich Steinhilper was born near the end of World War I in the midst of an air raid on Stuttgart. He spent his early childhood in a small village and then moved to a town where his father was a teacher. In 1936 he successfully tested for Luftwaffe flight training and...
Harry T. Stewart Jr. is one of America’s most decorated Tuskegee Airmen. He was born on 24 July 1924, in Newport News, Virginia, near Langley AFB. At the age of two, Stewart’s family moved to Queens, New York, just a few minutes from North Beach Airport....
Flying untethered in space with the aid of a Manned Maneuvering Unit, Robert L. Stewart embodies the spirit of a true aerospace pioneer. Born in Washington, D.C., he graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1964 and was commissioned into the US Army...
Lt. Walter T. Stewart led the 93rd Bomb Group against the Ploesti oil refineries during Operation Tidal Wave. The Ploesti raid was the most decorated mission of World War II. Stewart was born in Benjamin, Utah, in 1917. During World War II he was a B-24 pilot, flying...
In recognition of an act of heroism he performed in 1969 as a prisoner of war (POW) in North Vietnam, James B. Stockdale was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Born in Abingdon, Illinois, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. From 1946...
Squadron Leader Bram van der Stok is Holland’s top ace and one of World War II’s unsung heroes. Born in 1915 in Indonesia, he entered the Dutch Air Force in 1936. After leaving the service in 1939 to attend medical school, he was recalled in less than a...
Donald J. StraitDonald J. Strait enlisted in 1940 in the 119th Observation Squadron of the New Jersey National Guard. He started as an armorer and moved up to become an aerial gunner in the two-seater O-46 and O-47 observation planes. In early 1942, he qualified as an...
Raymond “Donk” Strasburger Raymond “Donk” Strasburger led a 2-ship of A-10 Thunderbolt IIs – better known as “Warthogs” – during the Battle for Baghdad in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. He and his wingman destroyed major...
Mrs. Elizabeth Bridget “Betty Wall” Strohfus audaciously served her nation during WWII as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (W.A.S.P.). She served from 1943 until the W.A.S.P. were disbanded in December 1944. Piloting eight different aircraft including the...
Dora Dougherty Strother’s career in aviation has spanned more than 50 years and is unmatched for wide-ranging accomplishments. Her love of flying began as a child during family outings to a local airport. She earned her pilot’s certificate through the...
Colonel (Ret) Leroy Stutz (POW) was selected as an Eagle for his outstanding contributions to aviation. He served in the KS ANG and USAF. While serving in Vietnam, he became a POW, where he remained for 6.5 years. He was imprisoned with Robbie Risner, James...
James E. Swett shot down 7 Japanese dive-bombers on his first combat mission! He was born in Seattle, Washington in 1920 and grew up in San Mateo, California. Swett entered the College of San Mateo in 1939, and soon earned his private pilot’s license. Deciding...
