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...
Leo K. Thorsness flew 92 Republic F-105F “Wild Weasel” missions and was awarded America’s highest military decoration before he was shot down and taken prisoner in North Vietnam. Born in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in 1932, he enlisted in the Air Force in January...
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...
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...
Gaillard R. “Evil” Peck, Jr. was an Air Force warrior and pioneer. During a military career spanning 26 years, and with experiences ranging from F-4D combat missions over Vietnam to MiG-21 training flights over the Tonopah Test Range, he accumulated 5,000 hours flying...
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)....
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,...
Gail S. Halvorsen is best known as the “Berlin Candy Bomber,” “Uncle Wiggly Wings,” or “Der Schokoladen-flieger.” Born in 1920 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Halvorsen was always fascinated by flight. At 18, he soloed for the first time....
Leo Gray is a veteran pilot of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, and first all-black flying group to see combat. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Gray volunteered for the Army Air Corps shortly after high school and began his aviation...
Richard “Dick” Cole was Jimmy Doolittle’s copilot on the first bomber to launch from the USS Hornet, during the famous Tokyo Raid. Born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1915, Dick Cole enlisted in the Army on 22 November 1940. He was accepted into the Army Air...
Dean Caswell is a combat veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam conflict, who accumulated more than 8,000 flight hours in fighter aircraft. Colonel Caswell is best known for his aggressive fighting spirit and skilled airmanship displayed in the...
Charles G. Boyd is the only prisoner of war from the Vietnam conflict to attain the rank of General. Born in Rockwell City, Iowa in 1938, Boyd entered the U. S. Air Force in April 1959 through the Aviation Cadet Program, which allowed him to complete flight and...
