US Air Force Lieutenant General. A decorated World War II combat bomber pilot, he rose in rank to become the Commander-in-Chief of Air Training Command (now Air Education and Training Command). Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, he attended the University of Oklahoma at Norman, Oklahoma and graduated in 1936 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree He then entered the US Army Air Corps and after completion of flying training in 1937 at Randolph and Kelly Fields (now Randolph Air Force Base and Kelly Air Reserve Base, now both a part of Joint Base San Antonio), Texas, and received his aviation wings and a commission as a 2nd lieutenant. His first assignment was in the Panama Canal Zone where he flew pursuit aircraft. In June 1940 he was assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot. In May 1941 he participated in the first long-range, over-water flight of land-based bombers, from California to Hawaii, and in October 1941 he piloted a B-17 to the Philippines, arriving there shortly before the US entered World War II on December 7, 1941. He was on Bataan and in Australia and New Guinea, where he flew bombing missions until November 1942 when he was sent to Washington DC for duty on the War Department General Staff. In August 1945 he returned to the Pacific Theater of Operations and was assigned to the 20th Bomber Command on Guam. The following year he became chief of personnel of the Far East Air Forces in Tokyo, Japan where he remained until assignment to the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama in 1948. In 1949 he was assigned to Headquarters US Air Force in Washington DC as a division chief in Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel and in 1952 he attended the National War College at Fort McNair, Washington DC. From 1953 until 1957 he commanded the Navigator Training Wing at Mather Air Force Base, California (now closed). In July 1957 he became deputy commander of Flying Training Air Force and the following year, he became the Inspector General of the Air Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. From October 1959 until May 1960 he served as the senior member, United Nations Command, Military Armistice Commission at Panmunjom, Korea, after which he became Deputy for Plans and Operations at Headquarters Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii (now Joint Base Pearl-Hickam). In August 1963 he returned to the Philippines as the commander, 13th Air Force. In July 1965 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant General and became the Vice Commander in Chief of the Pacific Air Forces at Hickam Air Force Base and in 1966 he returned to the US to become Commander-in-Chief of the Air Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base, and he retired in this position in September 1970 with 33 years of continuous military service. Among his military and foreign decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with 1 oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star with 1 oak leaf cluster, the Air Medal, the Joint Services Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart, the World War II Victory Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the American Defense Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnamese Air Force Distinguished Service Medal 1st Class, the Vietnamese Air Force Air Gallantry Medal with Gold Wings, the Korean Order of Military Merit Taeguk, the Chinese Medal of Cloud and Banner and the First Class Knight Grand Cross of the Most Noble, Order of the Crown of Thailand. He died in San Antonio, Texas at the age of 75.