Foil: 5 Panel: 2 Column: 4 Line: 97

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Thomas Jeffrey Sarko

John S. Sarko was born on March 24,1918. He received his pilot's license in 1936, and eventually achieved airplane single- and multi-engine land and sea, rotorcrafthelicopter, and instrument airplane and helicopter ratings.
LTC Sarko originally enlisted in the Army on October 19,1938, and was inducted into the Wisconsin National Guard on October 15,1940. In 1942, he was a member of the "Class Before One" (Army Aviation test program) at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, where he flew the L-4, the first of the Army's observation airplanes. He was then assigned to "Grasshopper Test Group Flight B" for Army Aviation testing with the 2nd Infantry Division Artillery at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. He served in Europe during World War II and served on active duty from 1961 to 1962 when Wisconsin's 32nd Division was mobilized for the Berlin Crisis.
LTC Sarko's career with the Army and Wisconsin Army National Guard spanned more than 39 years, including 26 years as a full time technician. He became a master Army aviator, logging 10801 military flying hours in both airplanes and helicopters. LTC Sarko served as the 32nd Division's Aviation Officer, commander of the 32nd Aviation Battalion, and, for the last ten years of his career, Director of Army Aviation, Department of Military Affairs, Wisconsin Army National Guard.
Upon his retirement in 1977, LTC Sarko received the Major General Francis S. Greenlief Award for Aviation Excellence. In 1986, he was honored by the Wisconsin Army Aviation National Guard with the creation of the Lt. Colonel John S. Sarko Safety Award.