US Air Force Major General. A World War II combat fighter pilot, he was the Commander-in Chief of Alaskan Air Command from March 1974 to September 1975. He was raised in Overton, Texas and after graduating from high school, he attended the University of Utah at Salt Lake City, Utah and the University of Maryland at College park, Maryland. In April 1942, after the US entered World War II, he enlisted in the US Army Air Corps and was selected to attend the aviation cadet program and graduated in March 1943 at Williams Field, Arizona (now closed), with a commission as 2nd lieutenant and his pilot wings. He then entered Night Fighter Combat Crew Training School, Orlando, Florida, where he flew the P-70 Havoc aircraft. In July 1943 he was assigned to the 414th Night Fighter Squadron in the European Theater of Operations and flew 93 combat missions over North Africa, Sardinia, Corsica, Southern France and Northern Italy, in Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter aircraft, accumulating 277 flying combat hours. He returned to the US in December 1944 and became a P-61 Black Widow pilot instructor at Hammer Field, Fresno, California. In March 1946, after the end of World War II, he went to Germany where he spent three years flying the RF-51 Mustang, P-61 Black Widow, and P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft. In March 1949 he returned to the US and was assigned to the Directorate of Plans at Headquarters US Air Force in Washington DC. In December 1953 he was transferred to Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, and assumed command of the 29th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, where he flew the F-94C Starfire aircraft. A year later he became director of combat operations for the 29th Air Division. In July 1955 he entered the Air Command and Staff School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and following graduation in June 1956, he began an exchange tour of duty with the Royal Canadian Air Force Headquarters at Ottawa, Canada as chief of the Day Fighter Branch. Two years later he was assigned as staff planning officer with the 37th Air Division and later was assistant director of operations and training for the 30th Air Division at Truax Field (now Truax Field Air National Guard Base), Wisconsin. In November 1960 he became commander of the 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Bunker Hill Air Force Base (now Grissom Air Reserve Base), Indiana, where he flew the F-106 Delta Dart aircraft. In July 1961 he was assigned to the 25th Air Division headquarters at McChord Air Force Base (now Joint Base Lewis-McChord), Washington, where he served as deputy chief of staff, Civil Engineering. In June 1963 he then became a student at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair in Washington DC, and after graduating he was assigned to Ramstein Air Base, Germany as the director of operations, and flew F-102 Delta Dagger aircraft. He returned to the US in July 1967 and attended the Air Defense Command Life Support Training Course and the F-101 Combat Crew Training School at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Following this training he assumed command of the 52d Fighter Wing at Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York and became commander of the 35th Air Division with headquarters at Hancock Field, New York, in April 1969. In September 1971 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. He returned to McChord Air Force Base in March 1972 and assumed command of the 25th North American Air Defense Command/Continental Air Defense Command Region, with additional duties as commander, 25th Air Division. In March 1975 he was assigned to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska as commander of Headquarters Alaskan Air Command, and he retired in that position in September 1974, with 33 years of continued military service. His military decorations and awards include the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Presidential Unit Citation Emblem, the National Defense Medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon, and was a rated command pilot. He died at the age of 88.