John H. Griffith

He joined the United States Army Air Corps in November 1941, and served in the South Pacific during World War II.

He flew 189 missions in the Curtiss P-40 fighter and was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and four Air Medals.

[1] Griffith left the NACA in 1950 to fly for private companies — Chance Vought, United Airlines, and for Westinghouse.

He later worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, assisting in the development of a never-completed supersonic transport plane.

He subsequently returned to United Airlines as a flight instructor, until retiring to Penn Valley, California.