Brigadier General Harry C. “Heinie” Aderholt commanded the 56th Air Commando Wing, Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand. His composite wing of legacy propeller aircraft included the AT-28, A-1E, A-26, UC-123B, U-6A, and U-10, as well as combat controllers. Flying at...
Paul Wesley Airey Paul Wesley Airey served as the first Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force from 1967 to 1969. Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he was inspired to join the Navy because of the prestige of the US Navy Falls Shipyard in the Boston area. However,...
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...
Marcel Albert flew fighters from France, England, and the Soviet Union during World War II. Born in Paris in 1917, he inherited mechanical talent from his father and, after high school, went to work building gearboxes for Renault. He also developed an interest in...
A dream of mankind was fulfilled on 20 July 1969 when the lunar module Eagle touched down on the moon’s Sea of Tranquillity. Two American astronauts became the first humans to set foot on another planetary body. One of these, Buzz Aldrin, was an Air Force...
A highly decorated combat ace of World War II and veteran of the Korean War, Major General John R. Alison was credited with the first night victory in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater. Born in Florida in 1912, Alison graduated from the University of Florida, School...
General James F. Amos graduated from the University of Idaho in 1965. Early on, Amos knew he wanted to be Marine pilot, and in 1970 he was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps. Earning his wings in 1971, he was posted to an F-4 Phantom II squadron...
Universally known as “Chief,” C. Alfred Anderson is a lifelong pioneer of aviation opportunities for black Americans. Fascinated by airplanes from an early age, he developed an intense desire to learn to fly as a young man in Staunton, Virginia. In the...
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...
“All aircraft in the area, ‘Double Eagle II’ is landing!” This radio message on 17 August 1978 proclaimed to the world that man had achieved the first successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a free balloon. Thirteen unsuccessful crossings...
Valérie André was the first female general officer in the air force of France. Born in 1922, as a youth, she lived in Alsace near the Rhein River and border with Germany. She was fascinated by airplanes and had her first flight in a Potez 58 monoplane. In 1939,...
Lee A. “Buddy” Archer, Jr., is a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black pilots who compiled an outstanding record of performance during World War II. He was born on 6 September 1919. As a child, Archer developed the passion to become a pilot...
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”, proclaimed Neil Armstrong on 20 July 1969 when he became the first person to step onto the moon. The road leading to that historic moon landing began in Wapakoneta, Ohio, where he was...
Fred J. Ascani was a key figure in Air Force experimental aircraft flight testing. He became a test pilot after flying 53 combat missions in B-17s over Europe. Born in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1917, he grew up in Rockford, Illinois. Ascani entered flight training after...
Royal Navy fighter pilot, Andrew D. “Andy” Auld commanded the men flying and maintaining the Sea Harriers of 800 Naval Air Squadron during the Falklands War. Born in 1945 in Scotland, Auld won appointment to Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in...
Described as one of the “most moving tales of heroism,” Colonel Regina C. Aune was the lead medical officer for the first mission of Operation BABYLIFT. Born in Lakewood, Ohio on 27 December 1944, Aune attended Saint John College in Cleveland where she...
Jacqueline Auriol is France’s most distinguished aviatrix. Born 5 November 1917 in Challans, France, she is the daughter of a wealthy shipbuilder and timber importer. After graduating from the university in Nantes, she studied art at the Ecole du Louvre in...
Saiful Azam, from Bangladesh, holds awards for gallantry in aerial combat from Pakistan, Jordan, and Iraq! Azam was born in 1941 in Pabna, Bangladesh, and, as a young boy, lived in Calcutta. In 1947, his family moved east to an area that became part of predominately...
