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Donavon F. Smith
Donavon Francis Smith (October 2, 1922 – September 10, 1974) was a United States Army Air Forces flying ace during the World War II. He accrued 5.5 victories in the war. He retired from the United States Air Force in 1973 at the rank of lieutenant general. Early life Smith was born on October 2, 1922, in Dowagiac, Michigan. He graduated from Niles High School in Niles, Michigan, in 1940. World War II He entered the aviation cadet program in January 1942 and commenced his primary training at Bruce Field, Texas on 30 March 1942; he soloed the Fairchild PT-19 after seven hours and 16 minutes of instruction. He later moved to Randolph Field, Texas for Basic training and Advanced training at Foster Air Force Base, Foster Field, Texas. Smith was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was awarded his pilot wings on October 9, 1942. After completing P-47 Thunderbolt training, Smith joined the 61st Fighter Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group at Bridgeport, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dowagiac, Michigan
Dowagiac ( ) is a city in Cass County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,879 at the 2010 census. It is part of the South Bend– Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Dowagiac is situated at the corner of four townships: Wayne Township to the northeast, LaGrange Township to the southeast, Pokagon Township to the southwest, and Silver Creek Township to the northwest. The city name comes from the Potawatomi word ''dewje'og'' meaning "fishing ear homewater". Dowagiac is the headquarters of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and is also contained within the reservation. History Dowagiac was first platted in 1848. It was incorporated as a village in 1863 and as a city in 1877. Dowagiac gained national attention in June 1964 after police began investigating multiple reports of what became known as the Dewey Lake Monster. In 1854, Dowagiac was the final destination for the first group of orphans brought to the Midwest from New York City on the O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force Distinguished Service Medal
The Air Force Distinguished Service Medal (AFDSM) is a military decoration of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force and is presented to airmen and guardians to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorious service to the United States while serving in a duty or position of great responsibility. The Air Force Distinguished Service Medal was created by an act of the United States Congress on July 6, 1960 and was first awarded in 1965. Prior to the creation of the Distinguished Service Medal in 1960, United States Air Force airmen were awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal.Air Force Personnel Center Air Force Distinguished Service Medal The Air Force Distinguished Service Medal is equivalent to the Army's |
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1986. In the colonial forces, which closely followed the practices of the British military, the rank of second lieutenant began to replace ranks such as ensign and cornet from 1871. New appointments to the rank of second lieutenant ceased in the regular army in 1986. Immediately prior to this change, the rank had been effectively reserved for new graduates from the Officer Cadet School, Portsea which closed in 1985. (Graduates of the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the Royal Military College, Duntroon (RMC-D) are commissioned as lieutenants.). The rank of second lieutenant is only appointed to officers in special appointments such as training institutions, university regiments and while under probation during training. Tra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foster Air Force Base
Foster Air Force Base (1941–1945, 1952–1959) is a former United States Air Force facility in Texas, located in Victoria County, approximately east-northeast of Victoria. A flying training airfield during World War II, it was part of Tactical Air Command (TAC) during the early years of the Cold War as a tactical fighter and command base. The airfield honored Lt. Arthur L. Foster (25 November 1888 – 10 February 1925), a Texas native from Georgetown. A U.S. Army Air Corps instructor, he was killed in a crash at Brooks Field, near San Antonio. Foster's son received his training and commission at the namesake base in 1942. World War II The airfield was established in the spring of 1941 as an advanced single-engine flying school for fighter pilots. A local funding campaign led by E. J. Dysart the previous spring had raised some $17,000 to locate the base at Victoria on a site as an economic asset. Subsequent government construction cost more than $4 mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randolph Field
Randolph Air Force Base was an United States Air Force base located at Universal City, Texas ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Force during its entire existence. On 1 October 2010, Randolph AFB merged with Lackland Air Force Base and the US Army's Fort Sam Houston to form Joint Base San Antonio. Naming Randolph AFB was named after Captain William Millican Randolph, a native of Austin, who was on the base naming committee at the time of his death in a crash. The base served as headquarters of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) as well as the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) and was known as "the Showplace of the Air Force" because of the Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture in which all structures including hangars were constructed. The symbol of the base was a large water tower atop Building 100, hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairchild PT-19
The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, RAF and RCAF during World War II. Designed by Fairchild Aircraft, it was a contemporary of the Kaydet biplane trainer, and was used by the USAAF during Primary Flying Training. As with other USAAF trainers of the period, the PT-19 had multiple designations based on the powerplant installed. Design and development The PT-19 series was developed from the Fairchild M-62 when the USAAC first ordered the aircraft in 1940 as part of its expansion program. The cantilever low-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear and tailwheel design was based on a two-place, tandem-seat, open cockpit arrangement. The simple but rugged construction included a fabric-covered welded steel tube fuselage. The remainder of the aircraft used plywood construction, with a plywood-sheathed center section, outer wing panels and tail assembly. The use ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Field
Bruce Field is a city-owned public-use general aviation airport located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) southwest of the central business district of Ballinger, a city in Runnels County, Texas, United States. Facilities and aircraft Bruce Field covers an area of 640 acres (259 ha) at an elevation of 1,739 feet (530 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 17/35 with an asphalt surface measuring 3,909 by 60 feet (1,191 x 18 m). For the 12-month period ending March 4, 2009, the airport had 1,850 aircraft operations, an average of 154 per month: 97% general aviation and 3% air taxi. At that time there were 6 aircraft based at this airport: 83% single- engine, and 17% multi-engine. History In preparation for the eventual U.S. entry into World War II, the United States Army Air Corps sought to expand the nation's combat air forces by asking civilian flight schools to provide the primary phase of training for air cadets. Consequently, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donovan Smith
Donovan Cole Smith (born June 23, 1993) is an American football offensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State, and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Early years Smith was born in Hempstead, New York and lived in New York until he and his twin sister moved to Owings Mills, Maryland prior to their sophomore year in high school to live with their uncle and his wife. He attended Owings Mills High School, where he played football. He did not allow a single sack as a junior or senior and also was a standout defensive lineman. Smith played in the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Smith also participated in track & field. Smith was rated by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and was ranked as the ninth-best offensive tackle in his class. He committed to Penn State to play college football. College career Smith attended Penn State from 2011 to 2014. After re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niles, Michigan
Niles is a city in Berrien and Cass counties in the U.S. state of Michigan, near the Indiana border city of South Bend. In 2010, the population was 11,600 according to the 2010 census. It is the larger, by population, of the two principal cities in the Niles- Benton Harbor Metropolitan Statistical Area, an area with 156,813 people. Niles lies on the banks of the St. Joseph River, at the site of the French Fort St. Joseph, which was built in 1697 to protect the Jesuit Mission established in 1691. After 1761, it was held by the British and was captured on May 25, 1763, by Native Americans during Pontiac's Rebellion. The British retook the fort but it was not re-garrisoned and served as a trading post. During the American Revolutionary War, the fort was held for a short time by a Spanish force. The occupation of the fort by the four nations of France, Britain, Spain, and the United States has earned Niles the nickname City of Four Flags. The town was named after Hezekiah Niles, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Ace
A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually considered to be five or more. The concept of the "ace" emerged in 1915 during World War I, at the same time as aerial dogfighting. It was a propaganda term intended to provide the home front with a cult of the hero in what was otherwise a war of attrition. The individual actions of aces were widely reported and the image was disseminated of the ace as a chivalrous knight reminiscent of a bygone era. For a brief early period when air-to-air combat was just being invented, the exceptionally skilled pilot could shape the battle in the skies. For most of the war, however, the image of the ace had little to do with the reality of air warfare, in which fighters fought in formation and air superiority depended heavily on the relative availabili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941–1945). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force, today one of the six armed forces of the United States. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which on 2 March 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the United States Army Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces), and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff. The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed among the Air Corps, General Headquarters Air Force, and the gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
