Capt Alexander Rafalovich

Dec 22, 2017 | Air Force

Alex was from San Pedro, California. He was assigned to the 4th Fighter Group, 334th Squadron in February 1943 while they were still flying Spitfires. As they were converting to P-47 Thunderbolts the squadron was off operations for 45 days, so Alex took a short leave...

Capt Elmer John Gedeon

Dec 21, 2017 | Air Force, Army

Elmer J Gedeon – nephew of former major league infielder Joe Gedeon, University of Michigan three-sport athlete and major league outfielder – was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 15, 1917. He and cousin Bob used to ice skate together at Brookside Park in...

Col Thomas George Lanphier, Jr.

Dec 19, 2017 | Air Force

He was born on November 27, 1915 in Panama City, Panama. He married Phyllis of Boise, Idaho and had 5 children. He studied journalism at Stanford University and graduated in January 1941. He completed his pilot training at Stockton Army Air Field, California on...

Col Harold E. Fischer

Dec 14, 2017 | Air Force, Army

Fischer grew up on a farm in Iowa and enlisted in the U.S. Army after two years at Iowa State University. He transferred to the Air Force in 1950 and achieved a remarkable combat record during 105 missions. He was credited with shooting down 10 Soviet-made MiG-15...

Col William C. McChord

Dec 5, 2017 | Air Force

During his lifetime, William Caldwell McChord witnessed and took part in the birth of military aviation. Colonel McChord was born 29 December 1881, in Lebanon, Kentucky. He attended the United States Military Academy, where he earned a commission as a second...

Lt Col George J. Laben

Dec 2, 2017 | Air Force

In seventeen months stationed in India and Burma during World War II, George Laben flew 245 missions in a C-47 transport plane, an aircraft he still praises for its maneuverability and general ease of flying. He dodged Japanese planes by flying low enough to the...