Foil: 14 Panel: Retired United Pilots Association Column: 3 Line: 40

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Robert L. Raab

It started with a fever for building model airplanes at the age of 9. 1 won model-building contests in the 4th grade. 1 made models from scratch that actually flew. Then as now 1 loved making paper airplanes and experimenting with configurations. 1 was destined to fly.

A ride in a Piper Cub at Carlisle Military School, Bamberg, S.C., in the 7th grade increased my enthusiasm. It was two years before 1 got another ride, but that was as a passenger in a two-engine airliner and got to sit in the cockpit.

During college I spoke often with a friend who was going through Marine Corps Officers training and then flight training. I was sold. I signed up for the Marine Corps PLC program and after graduating from Ga. Tech in June 1961, 1 was commissioned a 2ndLt. That same month 1 entered Navy Flight training at Pensacola, FI. Except for several subsequent aircraft carrier qualifications and carrier operations, flight training remains the most exciting time of my life. I was designated a Naval Aviator in Sept. 1962 and received my 'Wings of Gold'.

I was fortunate to fly jet fighters for six years, and anything else I could talk my way into, piloting 11 military aircraft. My favorites, the F4D Skyray, the F8U Crusader, and the F4B Phantom that 1 flew in Vietnam. I was privileged to be the first Marine in 8 years to attend the Air Force's Fighter Weapons School, getting my "Ph.D." as a Weapons Delivery Instructor.

Following my Marine Corps service I flew for United Airlines, retiring as a Captain in January 1995, after checking out on seven aircraft over 28 years. I spent 18 years on the DC-8, the best airliner ever built. Even with the loss of all hydraulic fluid and every volt, you could still fly it and land safely. God put me into the best occupation I could have had. The airline was a great job. However, it doesn't hold a candle to my six years as a Marine Corps officer and Naval Aviator.

Semper Fi