Share This
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
Learn more about United States Army Air Forces »
Add More Topics
Save this view to a base, or just for yourself.
about 89 Military Service topics matching:
Filter this Collection
Walter Matthau
Walter John Matthau (October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the...
Rank:
James Stewart
James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American film and stage actor, best known for his self-effacing persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for...
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul "Joe" DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr., was an American baseball player for the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. He was the middle of three brothers who...
Rank:
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager (born February 13, 1923) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He is widely considered to be the first pilot to travel faster than sound (1947). Originally retiring as a...
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the...
Paul Tibbets
Paul Warfield Tibbets, Jr. (February 23, 1915 – November 1, 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force, best known for being the pilot of the Enola Gay, the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb in the history of warfare. The bomb,...
Dominic Salvatore Gentile
Major Dominic Salvatore "Don" Gentile (6 December 1920 - 28 January 1951) was the WWII USAAF pilot who was the first to break Eddie Rickenbacher's WWI record of 26 downed aircraft.
After a fascination with flying as a child, his father provided him...
Delos Carleton Emmons
Delos Carleton Emmons was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army.
He was born in 1888 in Huntington, West Virginia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in June 1909 and was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant. Emmons...
George Brett
George Howard Brett (7 February 1886 – 2 December 1963) was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II. An Early Bird of Aviation, Brett served as a staff officer in World War I. During World War II, he served in the United Kingdom,...
Lucius Theus
Lucius Theus (October 11, 1922 – October 15, 2007) was a Major General in the United States Air Force.
Theus was born in Madison County, Tennessee. According to the Official DEOMI (Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute) website, General...
David Lee "Tex" Hill
David Lee "Tex" Hill (July 13, 1915 – October 11, 2007) was a fighter pilot and flying ace in World War II, with later service in Korea.
He was born in Kwangju, Korea, the son of Presbyterian missionaries, but raised in Texas. He attended Texas...
Robert S. Johnson
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Samuel Johnson (21 February 1920 to 27 December 1998) was a USAAF fighter pilot during World War II. He is credited with scoring 27 victories during the conflict flying a P-47 Thunderbolt.
Robert S. Johnson was the first...
Robert Edward Femoyer
Robert Edward Femoyer (October 31, 1921–November 2, 1944) is one of only seven known Eagle Scouts who also received the Medal of Honor. The others are Aquilla J. Dyess, Eugene B. Fluckey, Mitchell Paige, Benjamin L. Salomon, Leo K. Thorsness and Jay...
Demas T. Craw
Demas Thurlow Craw (April 9, 1900 – November 8, 1942) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Craw entered West Point from his...
Donald J. Gott
Donald J. Gott (June 3, 1923 – November 9, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Gott joined the Army from his birth...
Pierpont M. Hamilton
Pierpont Morgan Hamilton (August 3, 1898 – March 4, 1982) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Hamilton was born in Tuxedo...
Millard Harmon
Millard Fillmore Harmon Jr. was a commander in the United States Army Air Forces during the Pacific campaign in World War II. During the strategically significant Guadalcanal campaign, he commanded US Army forces in the South Pacific Area. Later,...
David R. Kingsley
David R. Kingsley (June 27, 1918 – June 23, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Kingsley joined the Army from...
William R. Lawley, Jr.
William R. Lawley, Jr. (August 23, 1920 – May 29, 1999) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Lawley joined the Army from...
William E. Metzger, Jr.
William E. Metzger, Jr. (February 9, 1922 – November 9, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Metzger joined the Army...
Edward S. Michael
Edward Stanley Michael (May 2, 1918 – May 10, 1994) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Michael joined the Army from his...
Donald D. Pucket
Donald D. Pucket (died July 9, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Pucket joined the Army from Boulder, Colorado,...
Raymond H. Wilkins
Raymond H. Wilkins (September 28, 1917 – November 2, 1943) was a United States Army Air Forces officer and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.
Wilkins joined the Army...
Alan Magee
Alan Eugene Magee (January 13, 1919 – December 20, 2003) was an American airman during World War II who survived a 22,000 foot (6,700 m) fall from his damaged B-17 Flying Fortress. He was featured in Smithsonian Magazine as one of the 10 most...
Frederick W. Castle
Frederick Walker Castle (October 14, 1908–December 24, 1944) was a general officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was killed in action leading the bombing mission for which he was awarded...
Sydney S. Woods
Sidney Sterling Woods (25 July 1917 - 31 March 1989) was an American fighter ace of World War II with 7 victories in Europe and the Pacific theater.
Sidney Woods was born in San Marcos, Texas on July 25, 1917. He spent much of his youth in Arizona....
Walter E. Truemper
Walter E. Truemper (October 31, 1918-February 20, 1944) was awarded the Medal of Honor as a member of the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II.
Born October 31, 1918, at Aurora, Illinois, Truemper attended business college and worked as an...
Archibald Mathies
Archibald Mathies (June 3, 1918 – February 20, 1944) was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor as an enlisted member of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II.
Born June 3, 1918, in Stonehouse, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, he emigrated with...
Martin James Monti
Martin James Monti (October 24, 1921 – September 11, 2000) was a United States airman who enlisted in the Army Air Force as a pilot and was at the rank of second lieutenant when he defected to Germany, taking his P-38 Lightning aircraft {#44-23725}...
William O. Eareckson
Colonel William "Eric" Olmstead Eareckson (1900 – October 26, 1966) was an American Army Air Forces combat commander during the World War II Battle of the Aleutian Islands.
Eareckson enlisted in the Army at age 17 and fought in France during World...
Darrell R. Lindsey
Darrell Robins Lindsey (December 30, 1919–August 9, 1944) was a bomber pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Lindsey was born in Jefferson, Iowa, to Jesse Lyle and Grace Alice Lindsey...
Jay Zeamer, Jr.
Jay Zeamer Jr. (July 25, 1918–March 22, 2007) was a pilot of the United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific during World War II, and was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor during an air mission on June 16, 1943. Zeamer is one of only seven...
Joseph Sarnoski
Joseph Raymond Sarnoski (January 31, 1915–June 16, 1943) was an officer of the United States Army Air Forces during a World War II, and awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Sarnoski was part of Capt. Jay Zeamer Jr.'s crew on Old 666 on the day...
Walker 'Bud' Melville Mahurin
Colonel Walker Melville 'Bud' Mahurin (born December 5, 1918, Benton Harbor, Michigan) is a retired officer of the United States Air Force (USAF). During World War II, while serving in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), he was a notable...
Mihiel Gilormini
Brigadier General Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini (August 3, 1918 – January 29, 1988), was a United States Air Force officer who served in the Royal Air Force and in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. He was the recipient of the Silver...
Charles Dryden
Ret. Lt. Col. Charles W. Dryden (September 16, 1920 – June 24, 2008) was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. Dryden earned his wings in 1942, and served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II. He is the author of his biography, A-Train: Memoirs of a...
Jacob Beser
Jacob Beser (March 15, 1921 – June 16, 1992) was a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces who served during World War II. Beser was the radar specialist aboard the Enola Gay on Aug. 6, 1945, when it dropped the "Little Boy" atomic bomb on...
Lloyd H. Hughes
Lloyd "Pete" Herbert Hughes, Jr., (July 12, 1921 – August 1, 1943), a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Operation Tidal Wave during World War II.
Hughes was born in Alexandria,...
Oscar F. Perdomo
Major Oscar Francis Perdomo (July 14, 1919–March 2, 1976), a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, was a United States Air Force officer who was the last “Ace in a day” for the United States in World War II.
Perdomo, a Mexican American, was...
Bob Blake
Louis Robert "Bob" Blake (August 16, 1914 – November 26, 2008) was an American ice hockey player who played with the Boston Bruins in the 1935-1936 National Hockey League season. After three years of hockey in high school, Blake began his...
To date:
- 1945
From date:
- 1943
Elmer Valentine
Elmer Valentine (June 16, 1923 – December 3, 2008) was the co-founder of two famous nightclubs on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California: the Whisky a Go Go and The Roxy Theatre.
Elmer Valentine was born in Chicago on June 16, 1923. After...
Sal Yvars
Salvador Anthony Yvars (February 20, 1924 – December 10, 2008) was a Major League Baseball catcher who played with the New York Giants from 1947 to 1953 and the St. Louis Cardinals from 1953 to 1954. Born in Manhattan's Little Italy to a Spanish...
Sabu Dastagir
Sabu Dastagir (27 January 1924 – 2 December 1963) was a film actor of Indian origin—although he later took American citizenship. He was normally credited only by his first name, Sabu, and is primarily known for his work in film during the 1940s....
Rank:
From date:
- 1944
Richard Bong
Richard Ira "Dick" Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) is the United States' highest-scoring air ace, having shot down at least 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II. He was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) and a...
Chuck Stone
Charles Sumner "Chuck" Stone, Jr. (born July 21, 1924) is a former Tuskegee Airman, an American newspaper editor, columnist, and professor of journalism. In the 1940s, he was the first African-American undergraduate in several decades at Wesleyan...
George Watson
George Watson Sr. was a supply sergeant and support personnel for the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd Fighter Group. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Mr. Watson was sent to Italy in 1944 and served as a supply sergeant. On March...
Alexander Jefferson
Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson is one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the 332nd Fighter Group. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. His book, "Red Tail Captured, Red Tail Free: The Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman and Pow," is an excellent...
Henry Wise Jr.
Henry A. Wise, Jr. was an American physician and World War II Tuskegee Airman fighter pilot with the 99th Pursuit Squadron, 332nd Division.
Wise's plane was shot down over Romania and was a prisoner of war. He received the Purple heart; the Air...
Eugene Calvin Cheatham, Jr.
Eugene Calvin Cheatham, Jr. (August 27, 1915 — May 10, 2005) was one of the Tuskegee Airmen and a career officer in the United States Air Force.
Cheatham was born in Georgia; his father was an Episcopal missionary whose work took the family to...
George Kenney
George Churchill Kenney (6 August 1889 – 9 August 1977) was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II. He was commander of the Allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) from August 1942 until 1945.
Kenney was born in...
Jake DeShazer
Jacob Daniel DeShazer (15 November 1912 – 15 March 2008) participated in the Doolittle Raid as a staff sergeant and later became a missionary in Japan.
DeShazer was born on 15 November 1912 in West Stayton, Oregon and graduated from Madras High...
Leon Vance
Leon Robert "Bob" Vance, Jr. (August 11, 1916 – July 26, 1944) was a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Leon Robert Vance, Jr. was born and raised in Enid, Oklahoma, as the fourth child of...
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American television writer and producer who produced such '70s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude.
Lear was born in New Haven,...
John L. Jerstad
John Louis "Jack" Jerstad (February 12, 1918–August 1, 1943) was a United States Army Air Forces officer who was posthumously awarded the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor. He received the medal for his actions as a B...
Frank O’Driscoll Hunter
Major General Frank O. Hunter was born in Savannah, Georgia. He was educated at Hotchkiss School, Connecticut, and in Lausanne, Switzerland. He enlisted in the Aviation Section, Signal Reserve, as a flying cadet on May 18, 1917. At that time,...
George E. Stratemeyer
Lieutenant General George Edward Stratemeyer (1890-1969) was World War II chief of Air Staff and United States Air Force Far East Air Forces commander during the first year of the Korean War.
Stratemeyer was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1890. He...
Claire Lee Chennault
Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault (September 6, 1893 – July 27, 1958), was an American military aviator who commanded the "Flying Tigers" during World War II. His family name is pronounced shen-awlt.
Born in Commerce, Texas, to John Stonewall...
Elliott Roosevelt
Elliott Roosevelt (September 23, 1910 – October 27, 1990) was an United States Army Air Forces officer and an author. Roosevelt was a son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
After World War II, Roosevelt...
William H. Tunner
William Henry Tunner (July 14, 1906 - April 6, 1983) was a general officer in the United States Air Force and its predecessor, the United States Army Air Forces. Tunner was known for his expertise in the command of large-scale military airlift...
Frank Maxwell Andrews
Frank Maxwell Andrews (February 3, 1884 – May 3, 1943) was a general officer in the United States Army and one of the founding fathers of the United States Air Force. In leadership positions within the Army Air Corps, he succeeded in advancing...
