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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Leader

Honored by:
Ms. Mary Ellen Freesland

Enlisted in the US Army at the outbreak of World War II as an Aviation Cadet as did many of his contemporaries at Penn State College. Graduated as a Second Lieutenant, Pilot, Army Air Corps in March 1943. Saw duty in the fledgling North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command, serving such wondrous places as Goose Bay, Labrador, the three Crystals in Baffinland, BW-1 and -8 in Greenland and transAtlantic airlift to and from Europe under the tutelage of such aviation pioneers as Gene Close and Ernest K. Gann. Transferred to the Pacific theater on Okinawa along with more than 400 other C-54s in the Purple Project for the aerial occupation of Japan by the Army's Second Cavalry Division in August 1945.

Honorably discharged in 1946 and joined TWA as a pilot. Recalled to active duty as a captain in time to form the Berlin Airlift forces at Rhein Main Air Base.

Returned stateside to the West Coast and subsequently moved with the newly created C-97 unit to Hickam Air Base in Hawaii. Then spent a year on Kwajalein as Operations Officer during support of nuclear weapons tests at Eniwetok. Still assigned airlift duties when the Army Air Forces became the US Air Force and was transferred to Westover AFB, Massachusetts with initial duty as chief pilot and then chief of the Atlantic Division, Transport Control Center.

After making Major and while MATS was converting to the C-118 and C-124, transferred to Iceland for a year during construction and early operation of the four early warning sites on the island.

Returned stateside for four years with the 1009th Special Weapons Squadron, a classified intelligence unit in Washington DC and the forerunner of the Air Force Technical Applications Center. Made Lieutenant Colonel and was integrated from reserve status to regular Air Force.

Next graduated from Armed Forces College at Norfolk, Virginia.

Now considered a command, control and communications expert, shipped off to Ankara, Turkey to set up a division-level command post overseeing joint-service listening posts and two USAF fighter bomber nuclear strike units, one in Turkey and one in Greece.

Temporarily assigned duty as pilot to Commanding General, United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, Palestine, as part of improved UN airlift security in Jerusalem.

Called back to the U.S. to join the newly created Joint Staff underground Alternate Command Center at Site R. Fort Ritchie, MD for three years.

Now a colonel, transferred to Hawaii again. Saw command with the 61st Military Airlift Wing, MAC.

With an oldest son serving in Vietnam as a fixed-wing aviator with the U.S. Army, opted to join him. Assigned command of two C-130 airlift wings at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base.

Returned to the Pentagon as Assistant Deputy Director Operations of the National Military Command Center, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for three years.

Was discharged after thirty two years service accumulating more than 8,000 flying hours in more than 20 different military and civil aircraft.

Post-retirement was spent for a while as contract consultant to the Department of Defense evaluating elements of the World Wide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) during exercises thereof.

One last hurrah was the swearing in of second son in the US Air Force as a Second Lieutenant at graduation from Pennsylvania State University and its ROTC program.