US Air Force Lieutenant General. A World War II fighter pilot, he rose in rank to become commander of the US Air Force 2nd Air Division and 7th Air Force during the Vietnam War, and later the Inspector General of the US Air Force. He grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina and graduated from Spartanburg High School there. After attending Wofford College in Spartanburg for two years, and later Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana, he entered the military service as an aviation cadet in June 1937 and was awarded his pilot wings and second lieutenant commission in the US Army Air Corps in June 1938. When the US entered World War II in December 1941, he was serving in the Philippine Islands and by April 1942 he had flown 100 combat hours in P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft. After the fall of Bataan he made his way to Australia and served with the US Army Air Forces units there until August 1942, when he returned to the US for short tours in Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania. In November 1943 he was sent to the European Theater of Operations and participated in the Normandy, North France and Rhineland Campaigns. In January 1945 he returned to the US and served the next two years in various operations and training assignments, including Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In December 1946 he returned to Europe with the Army of Occupation in Germany. In October 1947 he returned to the US and served as Deputy Chief, Zone of Interior Commands Branch, Office of the Director of Plans and Operations, Headquarters US Air Force in Washington DC and was elevated to its Chief the following June. In May 1951 he became commander of the 137th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Alexandria Municipal Airport, Louisiana. In May 1952 he returned to Europe when he moved to France with the first fighter-bomber unit assigned to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and in June 1953 he was appointed Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations for the 12th Air Force at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The following April he became Deputy Chief of Staff, US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), and in July, he was made Vice Chief of Staff, USAFE. In August 1955 he returned to the US and entered the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, DC and after graduation in June 1956, he became commander of the 323d Fighter Bomber Wing at Bunker Hill Air Force Base (now Grissom Air Reserve Base), Indiana. A year later he was transferred to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina as the 9th Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and became its Chief of Staff for Operations in June 1958. The following February he took command of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. On December 11, 1959 he received the Bendix Trophy for flying a Republic F-105 Thunderchief aircraft over a 100 kilometer closed course to establish a world speed record of 1,216 miles per hour. In October 1961 he was assigned to Headquarters Tactical Air Command (now Air Combat Command) at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia (now part of Joint Base Langley-Eustis) as the Assistant Deputy for Operations. In January 1964 he was assigned to Vietnam where he became commander of the 2nd Air Division, and in June 1965 he assumed the additional position there of Deputy Commander for Air Operations, Military Assistance Command. In April 1966, the 7th Air Force was reactivated and assumed the expanding mission formerly assigned to 2nd Air Division in Southeast Asia and he remained as commander. In July 1966 he became Vice Commander-in-Chief of Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii and a year later he returned to the US and became the Inspector General of the Air Force at Headquarters US Air Force in Washington DC. He retired in this position in April 1971 with 34 years of continuous military service. His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with 1 oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal with 5 oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with two stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal. He was a rated command pilot. After his military retirement, he resided in San Antonio, Texas and was a National Commander of the Order of Daedalians, a fraternity of military pilots. He died at the age of 92.