John L. Whitehead Jr.
John L. Whitehead Jr. | |
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Air Force Commendation Medal |
John Lyman Whitehead Jr. ("Mr. Death") (May 14, 1924 – September 6, 1992) was an American who served in World War II (as part of the Tuskegee Airmen), the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He was the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, one of the first to become a jet pilot instructor, and the first to fly the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber.
World War II
John Lyman Whitehead Jr. was born in
Whitehead was assigned to the
Later career
The 332nd Fighter Group returned to Tuskegee, where it was inactivated on 19 October 1945.
In June 1949, Whitehead was posted to Williams Air Force Base in Arizona, where he became the first African American jet pilot instructor. There were other African American instructors, but Whitehead was the first to train pilots in jet aircraft. The following year he became the Air Training Command liaison at Boeing for the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, becoming the first African American pilot to fly that bomber. He saw combat again during the Korean War, flying 104 missions. He was then assigned to Northrop Corporation at Hill Air Force Base in Utah as a test pilot. He was part of class 57C at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, and became the first African American to graduate from there on 3 January 1958.[2][5] In the 1960s he flew combat missions in the Vietnam War, and served at Edwards Air Force Base in California as a squadron and deputy group commander. He retired from the Air Force in 1974. He had flown over 9,500 hours, of which 5,000 was in jets. He never had an accident.[2]
From August 1984 to January 1992, Whitehead served as a California State Park Commissioner. A camping ground at Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park was named in his honor.[6] He died in Sacramento, California, on 6 September 1992, and was buried in Riverside National Cemetery.[7]
Notes
- ^ Conner, Bobby (21 February 2017). "John L. Whitehead flew to great heights". Brunswick Times-Gazette. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ OCLC 651897906.
- ^ ISBN 0-912799-02-1. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
- ^ OCLC 713016456. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
- ^ Eppley, Charles V. (March 1963). History of the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School 4 February 1951 – 12 October 1961 (PDF). United States Air Force. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "The Amazing Mr. Death". Friends of Allensworth. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ "Riverside National Cemetery". interment.net. Retrieved 15 February 2019.