[1] After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Berkeley, Edwards enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces on July 15, 1941, five months before Pearl Harbor, as an aviation cadet.

There he led his flight of A-20s on extremely hazardous, low-level missions against German tanks, convoys, troop concentrations, bridges, airfields, and a variety of other tactical targets.

When the Germans broke through the Kasserine Pass in February 1943, his undermanned and undersupplied squadron flew 11 missions in a single day, repeatedly attacking advancing armored columns and blunting their thrust.

During his tours in the North African campaign and the invasion of Sicily, Edwards completed 50 combat missions and was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and six Air Medals.

In December 1945, he and Lieutenant Colonel Henry E. Warden set a new transcontinental speed record when they flew this airplane from Long Beach, California, to Bolling Air Force Base, in Washington, D.C., in five hours and 17 minutes.

The recent war had spawned truly revolutionary advances in aviation technology and it had become apparent to men such as Col. Albert Boyd, the chief of the Flight Test Division, that a new breed of military test pilot—one who combined the talents of a highly skilled pilot with the technical expertise of an engineer—would be required to effectively evaluate increasingly complex aircraft and onboard systems.

In May 1948, Edwards was selected to join the team of test pilots and engineers at Muroc who were then evaluating the Northrop YB-49, the all-jet version of the exotic flying wing bomber.

One of Col. Boyd's first orders of business, when he assumed command of Muroc in late 1949, was to rename the base in honor of someone who had given his life to the cause of experimental flight research.