Lorrin Carlton Peterson was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, July 7, 1921, where he lived until he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in June 1939 as a weatherman. He served in the 2nd Weather Squadron at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was serving at Presque Isle Army Air Base, Maine, when World War II began. He attained the rank of sergeant when he was appointed to the US Military Academy, West Point, which he entered July 1, 1942.

With the onset of World War II, his West Point class was accelerated from four to three years and concurrent flying training was added. Lorrin achieved two of his goals: a degree and a pair of silver wings in June, 1945.

As a fledgling bomber pilot destined for B-29 Superfortresses, he was training in B-25s when the war with Japan ended in August 1945. He went on to fly the B-17, B-24, B-25, B-29, B-36 and B-47 bomber aircraft. He was stationed in Berlin, Germany when the Russian blockade started in June 1949, and flew 84 missions on the Berlin Airlift. Lorrin later served two tours in the Strategic Air Command, to include a B-29 squadron in England.

Upon return to the United States, he was selected to attend the USAF Institute of Technology from which he was awarded an MBA tailored to prepare for service as a program manager of major weapon systems. He was program manager of two strategic missile systems, the SM-64 Navaho, and the GAM-72 Quail, until he was assigned to Taiwan. In Taiwan he was manager of the USAF Plant Office at Air Asia, a subsidiary of Air America, doing major overhaul of Air Force F-100s. Lorrin’s next and last assignment was as Professor of Air Science at the California Institute of Technology from where he retired as a major in 1962.

The remaining 30 years of his working life was spent in aerospace and general aviation. He worked in program management offices at the Marquardt Company for ten years, and helped supply rocket engines for the Apollo, Manned Orbiting Lab, and Space Shuttle programs. Other service was with Litton Data Systems as a Program Manager of Special Programs for eight years. Elsewhere he was a Senior Engineer/Scientist for Douglas Aircraft and a program manager for National Cash Register, and Hydraulic Research Textron in Valencia.

In his spare time, after becoming a Flight Instructor under the GI Bill, Lorrin became an Airline Transport Pilot and flight instructor in all fixed wing