Orphaned at sixteen,[1] he graduated from St. Mary's High School in 1940 and attended Ohio State University in 1942.

He was inducted into the United States Army in January 1943 and through aviation cadet training received his pilot wings and commission as a second lieutenant in February 1944.

After the war, he served at various bases in the United States until 1949 when he was called upon to fly C-54 Skymaster aircraft in the Berlin Airlift.

From August 1960 to July 1961, he attended the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, after which he was assigned to Headquarters USAF, Washington, D.C., as an operations staff officer in the Plans and Capabilities Branch of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations.

In July 1968 he was reassigned to Travis Air Force Base as the commander, 60th Military Airlift Wing.