In 1950, Clara “Chris” Johnson was a theatrical designer with limited prospects when she decided that the Air Force would provide her with a steady income. Her initial impression of her female colleagues confirmed that she was going to be judged solely on her...
Fascinated with his older brothers’ letters home from World War II, 16-year-old Raymond Ayon dropped out of high school in 1945. He signed up for the Merchant Marines–but after a year they learned he was too young. Ayon went back to school, graduated, and...
In 1941, Warren graduated from Mankato State Teachers’ College (now Minnesota State University-Mankato) with a bachelor’s degree in education, intending to become a college professor. He completed a year of graduate work at the University of Minnesota, but...
Corbin grew up in Colorado and with his best friend and sister Betty they had many fun adventures. He graduated from high school and enlisted in the Army Air Corp. He was trained as a fighter pilot and then transferred to the Air Force as a B-17 pilot when the need...
Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese-American woman to pilot aircraft for the U.S. military. After taking her first flight in 1932, she fell in love with flying and earned her pilot’s license later that year. Lee moved to China ahead of the Second Sino-Japanese War...
Robert Hales completed his bachelor’s degree in communications and business at the University of Utah in 1954, and in 1960 he earned an MBA from Harvard. Following college, he served for four years in the United States Air Force as a jet fighter pilot flying F-84 and...
