In April 1924, 3 years before Lindbergh soloed across the Atlantic, Leigh Wade and seven other young courageous Army airmen took off on a 26,000-mile journey around the world. These men were the first to circumnavigate the earth by air, the first to fly across the...
Patty Wagstaff was selected as an Eagle because she is a multi-time U.S. Aerobatic medal winner, winning gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions for several years. In 1991, she won her first of three US National Aerobatic Championships, the first...
Lieutenant Colonel Ken Walsh is the top scoring living F4U Corsair ace with 21 air victories and 140 combat missions. “Join the Marines and Learn to Fly” was the poster that prompted Walsh to enlist in the Corps as a private on 15 December 1933. He served...
Henry E. “Pete” Warden saved the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress program from termination. Warden was born in 1915 in Texas. His father, an Army general, was then stationed in the Philippines. At age 13, his father was serving on Long Island, New York, where...
John A. Warden III is a combat pilot with a distinguished military career. Born in 1943 in McKinney, Texas, Warden received his Bachelor of Science degree and commission from the United States Air Force Academy in 1965. During his first operational assignment, Warden...
James C. “Jim” Warren was a member of the world famous “Tuskegee Airmen” and served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, flying 173 combat missions. Born in Gurley, Alabama, Jim enlisted in an aviation cadet program on November 19th, 1942 and entered the Army Air Force in...
Florene Miller Watson, one of only 25 women to qualify for the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), later known as the Women’s Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs), became fascinated with planes at the age of 8. By age 19, she had completed flight...
Col. Walter L. Watson, Jr., USAF (Retired) was born in Columbia, South Carolina. After graduating from C A Johnson High School, he attended Howard University in Washington, D.C earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a commissioning in the United States (US)...
GODFATHER OF SPECIAL TACTICS|COMBAT CONTROLLER|VETERAN’s ADVOCATE CMSgt (ret) Wayne Norrad was born and raised in Saco, Maine. He joined the United States Air Force in 1966 as a weapons mechanic [bomb loader] on the B-52 Stratofortress, deploying to Thailand in 1968....
Battle of Britain Spitfire ace and Distinguished Flying Cross winner Paul Webb, a Scotsman, was born in Greenock and educated at Kevinside Academy in Glasgow. As war clouds loomed in 1937, he joined 602 Squadron. Upon graduation from flight school at Abbotsinch (now...
Kermit Weeks is the owner of the world’s largest private aircraft collection, totaling over 160 airframes. Weeks was born in 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah, but he grew up in Miami, Florida. At the age of 13, he heard the song Snoopy and the Red Baron on the...
Wesley WellsWesley Wells was a B-17 Flying Fortress Ball Turret Gunner with the most decorated Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force in World War II. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, he was introduced to target-shooting at an early age and had won a national level...
Robert M. White was the world’s first pilot to fly a winged aircraft into space. Pursuing a typical boyhood interest in aviation, White enlisted in the Army in 1942, at the age of 18, intent on becoming a pilot. Following advanced flying training, the Army Air...
In 1923, Lieutenant John F. Whiteley piloted the first transcontinental bomber flight across the United States. Born in 1896, he had a diversified military career, serving 36 years with the Army Air Service, Army Air Corps, and finally the US Air Force. Due to his...
Timothy A. Wilkinson was a Pararescueman who served in Operation Just Cause in Panama, the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, and Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Wilkinson was born in Corry, Pennsylvania in 1957. He enlisted in the United States Air Force on 6...
The Eighth Air Force missions to attack the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, Germany, in August and October 1943 resulted in two of the greatest air battles in aviation history. David M. Williams was the lead B-17 Flying Fortress navigator on both of these...
CWO (Ret) Raymond Wilson was selected as an Eagle for his outstanding contributions to airpower. Chief Wilson overcame adversity at the height of the civil rights movement to attain his dream of flying. He was a Huey pilot who served over a year in Vietnam and helped...
Finlands “Hasse” Wind joined other pilots from his small but gallant country in forging an unforgettable chapter in aviation history. During the Continuation War–one of two conflicts with Russia between 1939 and 1944–he achieved 75 victories to...
Robert H. “Bob” Wolff was a combat aviator and POW in World War II. Following the surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, Bob enlisted as a private in the Army Air Corps. In April of 1942 he was called to active duty and began his training as an aviation cadet,...
Stan Wood is a remarkable aviator who leaves an indelible mark upon every operation or organization he touches. Character, camaraderie, loyalty, dedication, and sacrifice define only a portion of this American warrior. Born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania on 22 June...
As a 19-year-old college student in 1928, Jessie Schultz had no idea she would contribute to the Golden Age of Aviation during the years between the two World Wars. A Kansan, she grew up in Washington State and enjoyed music and gymnastics. On summer break in Ulysses,...
Margaret H. Woodward served as the Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC), the first female to do so in Air Force history, during Operation ODYSSEY DAWN, the U.N.-sanctioned 2011 military intervention in Libya. Born in Maryland in 1960, Woodward spent the...
Robert G. “Wilbur” Wright scored the first single mission triple victory by a U.S. Air Force pilot since the Korean War. Born in 1962 in Portsmouth, Ohio, he developed a love for military jet fighters at an early age. Accepted to the United States Air...
