Page 7 - Aerotech News and Review, January 8, 2021.

Tom Hilzendeger
In Memoriam
Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager the last 10 years of his life count as an advocate neer unit that was attached
Tom Hilzendeger, who made every day of
to the 1st Air Cavalry Divi-
Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, the first human to and supporter for veterans in need across the sion in Vietnam.
break the sound barrier, passed away Dec. 7, Antelope Valley, passed away after a lengthy Hilzendeger was hon-
2020, aged 97. battle with cancer. ored earlier in 2020 as
His death was announced, via Twitter, by his Hilzendeger, a Vietnam War veteran, started Palmdale’s Veteran of the
wife Victoria Yeager. a small classic car show a decade ago, creat- Year, and received similar
“It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you my ing the group Vets4Veterans and transforming honors in 2019 from state
life love General Chuck Yeager passed away it into a robust non-profit group in community Sen. Scott Wilk as 21st Dis-
just before 9pm ET,” Victoria said. “An incred- support of veterans in need. trict Veteran of the Year. On
ible life well lived, America’s greatest Pilot & a He died June 7, at the age of 70. Lancaster’s Blvd., Hilzen-
legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will On hearing the announcement of Hilzende- deger was honored with
be remembered forever.” ger’s death, tributes, both official and unofficial, a banner as a Hometown
While Yeager is best known in the Antelope poured in on social media. The tributes came Hero for Lancaster.
Valley for breaking the sound barrier on Oct. 14, from city and state officials across the Ante- Vets4Veterans began in 2010 with a small clas-
1947, flying the Bell X-1, he began his military lope Valley, and friends, and mostly from the sic car show hosted in the VA Veterans Center
career in World War II as a private in the U.S. veterans that he supported with the efforts of in Palmdale to raise some money for veterans
Army Air Forces in 1941. After serving as an the non-profit group. He remained proud that causes, recalled Gerry Rice, a Vietnam combat
aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he en- “nobody in the organization makes a dime from veteran who ran a group therapy session for vet-
tered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation this. It all goes to the veterans.” erans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, one
was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the Hilzendeger wasn’t old enough to drink a of the most recognized mental health challenges
World War II U.S. Army Air Force equivalent Asia during the Vietnam War. In recognition of beer legally when he served in a combat engi- from armed service.
to warrant officer), later achieving most of the outstanding performance ratings of those
his aerial victories as a P-51 fighter pilot on units, he was promoted to brigadier general in Doug Nelson
the Western Front, where he shot down over 11 1969.
enemy aircraft. In 1962, as a colonel, and after a year of study On Dec. 17, the Flight Test Museum Foun- YC-15 prototype on display there.
After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of at the Air War College, Yeager became the first dation announced the passing of Doug Nel- “Doug Nelson’s legacy at the Flight Test
many types of aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, commandant of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot
Calif., including experimental rocket-powered School at Edwards. son, founder of the Air Force Flight Test Museum in the Antelope Valley is huge,”
aircraft. As the first human to officially break Yeager retired from the Air Force on March Museum. said Fred Johnson, a former museum director.
the sound barrier, he flew the experimental Bell During his tenure as museum director, “The world-class collection that is the core of
X-1 at Mach 1 and an altitude of 45,000 feet, for 1, 1975, at Norton Air Force Base, Calif., after Doug not only collected many of the artifacts the museum owes its existence to Doug’s per-
which he won both the Collier and Mackay tro- more than 33 years on active duty. He did, how- in the museum’s archives, established the sistence against daunting odds. Even if visi-
phies in 1948. He then went on to break several ever, continue to fly for the Air Force and NASA first site and Blackbird Airpark, conceived, tors to the museum may not realize it, they
other speed and altitude records. as a consulting test pilot at Edwards. Yeager’s designed and oversaw the construction of will forever be the beneficiaries of what he
Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons three-war active duty flying career took him all Century Circle at the Edwards Air Force Base did to create the museum from scratch. I stand
and wings in Germany, as well as in Southeast over the world. West Gate, and oversaw the acquisition of the in awe of what Doug accomplished.”

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