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...
Aleksandr I. Vybornov scored 28 aerial victories during the Great Patriotic War. Born in 1921, in the town of Kashira, near Moscow, Vybornov enlisted in the Soviet Air Force in 1939. He earned pilot wings at Chuguyev military flying school one year later. In September...
Dick Rossi, an ace with six victories as a “Flying Tiger,” also flew 735 transport missions as a “Hump” pilot! Rossi was born in April 1915 in Placerville, California, and went to high school in San Francisco. During his university years he...
Joe Rosbert shared in the destruction of four Japanese bombers during his first aerial engagement. Born in January 1917, Rosbert grew up in south Philadelphia. An outstanding student, he won a scholarship to Villanova College where he earned a degree in chemical...
In 1950, as a “green” second lieutenant, Ralph Puckett formed, trained, and commanded the first Ranger Company to fight in Korea. A native of Tifton, Georgia, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps Reserve as he turned seventeen. He earned an appointment...
Ramsay Potts, at age 26, led a bomber force during one of World War II’s most historic missions! Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Potts attended the University of North Carolina, and in 1941 graduated Phi Beta Kappa. In May, he enlisted as an aviation cadet...
Dolphin D. “Dolph” Overton, III shot down five communist fighter aircraft to become an ace in only four days during the Korean War. born in Andrews, South Carolina, he began flying at a young age and had had soloed in a Piper J-3 Cub by age 16. He attended The Citadel...
Brigadier General Amir Nachumi flew over 300 combat missions and is an ace in two different fighter aircraft with 14 aerial victories. Born in 1945, General Nachumi attended high school and college in Jerusalem and at age 17 he joined the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)....
Sam Johnson, a seven-year prisoner of war in Vietnam, endured nearly three years in “Alcatraz,” a top-secret, high-security facility reserved for the most resistant American prisoners during the Vietnam War. An only child from a middle-class family,...
General Charles A. “Chuck” Horner commanded all US and allied air assets during Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. He led a devastating air war against Iraq that allowed the coalition ground forces to achieve their objectives in just 100 hours of fighting....
Bruce Holloway earned his “spurs” as a fighter pilot over China where he shot down 13 Japanese aircraft! Born in 1912, Holloway grew up and attended high school in Knoxville, Tennessee. He studied engineering for two years at the University of Tennessee...
As a young officer, “Paddy” Hine had to choose between two loves, flying or golf. Hine was born near Southampton, England, in 1932 and educated at Peter Symonds School in Winchester. As a youth, he excelled in golf and in 1948 became a member of the...
David Lee “Tex” Hill was born on 13 July 1915, in Kwangju, Korea, the son of American missionaries. He grew up in Texas, but returned to the Far East years later as one of the first pilots in General Claire Chennault’s American Volunteer Group (AVG),...
As squadron commander, Bill Harrell flew on the first long-range, over-water flight in a single-engine jet aircraft, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. Harrell, the son of a country doctor, was born during October 1920 in Pleasant Hill, Alabama. In 1938, after...
Dave Fowler flew over 30,000 hours in everything from the Piper J-3 Cub to the Douglas C-54 Skymaster and Consolidated B-24 Liberator. Born in Coleman County, Texas, in 1918, Fowler grew up fascinated and in awe of the airplanes that occasionally flew over the family...
In the spring of 1997, Linda Finch recreated an historic flight that brought aviation “alive” for millions of school children around the world. Finch, born in 1951, grew up in San Antonio, Texas. As a teenager, she began to dream about flying and set a...
Dave Ferguson made the first flight of the fighter that Air Force pilots will fly in the 21st century. Born in Pennsylvania, he graduated from Altoona High School in 1956. For three years he served as a draftsman then in 1959, he enlisted in the USAF as an Aviation...
Jeff DeBlanc became an “ace” in the Pacific during World War II and earned the Medal of Honor! Born in 1921, DeBlanc grew up in St. Martinsville, Louisiana. After high school and three years of university studies, he entered the Naval Aviation Cadet...
Every day millions of people around the world take to the skies in Boeing airliners that Philip Condit, as an engineer, manager, and leader helped to give wing! A native of California, Condit was born in 1941 and grew up fascinated by flight. He earned a pilot’s...
Guy Bordelon is the only United States Navy ace from the Korean War. Bordelon was born in Ruston, Louisiana, in 1922. He became an Eagle Scout and in 1939 graduated from high school in Alexandria. He began pre-law studies at Louisiana Polytechnic Institute, and later...
