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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
H. G. Holden

Born among the South Dakota hills of proud, hard working stock, he learned to ride mustangs while he learned to walk. Reverence for practical education and the arts were the gifts of his mother, a life-long teacher. Though never spoken, I believe he learned from his father and the Dakota hills that life, earth, water, and sky make up the one true face of God.
As a teen he drifted west from job to job as the nations of the world drifted toward world war. Reaching the West Coast, he enlisted in the Navy. Gravitating to aviation, his career took him from rag wing maintenance, to duty on the first real aircraft carriers, to Master Chief, ADRJ (Power Plant Mechanic for Reciprocating and Jet Engines), and flight engineer on P2VJs, the world's most advanced maritime surveillance and submarine hunter aircraft for over a decade. During the 21 year span of his career, he and his maintenance crews devised tools and systems such as adjustable engine maintenance stands and record keeping systems which were subsequently adopted by the Navy.
He completed his career investigating aircraft accidents, providing the information needed to make Naval Aviation safer for its flight crews. In 1992, his first son retired after his own career as a Navy Pilot.