“The flyingest General in the German Air Force,” Günther Rall, entered the German Army in 1936 as an officer candidate in the infantry. However, the 20-year-old Rall decided aviation was his real interest and transferred to the Luftwaffe. After pilot...
Hubert “Hub” Zemke, who would become one of World War II’s great aces and outstanding combat leaders, was born in Missoula, Montana on 14 March 1914. Majoring in forestry, he attended Montana State University on a football and boxing scholarship....
Brigadier General (ret.) Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier and went on to become one of the most legendary figures in aeronautical history. Born in 1923 in Myra, West Virginia, Yeager joined the US Army Air Corps at...
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...
George A. Vaughn, Jr. is the highest scoring American ace from World War I. Born in 1897, he grew up in Brooklyn, NY and enrolled in Princeton University in 1915. In February 1917, Vaughn signed up for the Princeton Aviation School. Concerned about passing the...
Fighter pilot, test pilot, astronaut, and politician, William J. “Pete” Knight is holder of the world’s speed record for winged powered flight. Born in Nobelsville, Indiana, in 1929, he earned his commission and pilot wings through the Aviation Cadet...
Olle Klinker is one of Sweden’s most famous pilots and the first person outside the United States to receive the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) prestigious Doolittle Award. Born in 1921, Klinker developed a love for airplanes very early and, at age...
Gerald W. “Jerry” Johnson’s military career began as a second lieutenant fighter pilot with the mighty Eighth Air Force–30 years later he was the commander. Born in 1919, he interrupted his college education in September 1941 to enter the...
Clayton M. Isaacson, World War II ace, commanded Joint Task Force LEO during Operation Dragon Rouge, one of the most dramatic airlift missions ever attempted. Born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, in 1919, he displayed his adventurous spirit at the age of 19 by riding his...
Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., was a naval aviator in the Korean War and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valiant efforts to rescue his flight lead from a burning aircraft. Born in Fall River, Massachusetts, he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, and...
General Sir John W. Hackett is a highly successful scholar, soldier, educator, and author. Born in Perth, Australia, in 1910, he began his military career in 1931 when he was commissioned to the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars. From 1936 – 1941, Hackett...
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...
Fitzhugh L. “Fitz” Fulton is one of America’s most accomplished test pilots having flown more than 15,000 hours in over 225 different types of aircraft. After attending Auburn University, he enlisted in the Army as an aviation cadet and was awarded...
Captain Joe H. Engle was first selected by Air Command and Staff College’s Gathering of Eagles in 1983 and subsequently honored in 1987, 1989, 1995, 1997, and 2001, respectively. Engle became America’s youngest astronaut on 29 June 1965, at age 32, after...
“That Others May Live” is the motto of the USAF Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service–Frederic M. “Marty” Donohue more than lived up to that motto! During his career, he flew 132 combat missions and conducted over 100 peacetime rescues....
The Marine Corps’ first ace, Marion E. Carl, was awarded the Navy Cross for ” extraordinary heroism” during his very first combat mission. Upon graduating from college in 1938, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. Due to...
Harry W. Brown was one of the few fighter pilots to get airborne to oppose the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He began his flying career less auspiciously, earning his first flying lesson by pulling cactus from a Texas airfield. After joining “B” Battery...
There were many heroes during the long war in Southeast Asia. Patrick Henry Brady, an Army “Dust Off” pilot, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. The son of one of Darby’s Rangers from World War II, he was born in...
Clarence “Bud” E. Anderson is a true aviator, triple ace, and test pilot. His military career spanned more than thirty years of distinguished service. He accumulated more than 7,000 flying hours, flying in two wars. Born in Oakland, California Bud learned to fly in...
Dirk L. “Dick” Asjes is a most distinguished pioneering aviator from the Netherlands. He was born on 21 July 1911, in Soerabaja, on the island of Java in the Netherlands East Indies. Leaving the East Indies in 1929 to study in the Netherlands, he entered...
