Joe Foss
Four years later, he and his father paid $1.50 apiece to take their first aircraft ride in a Ford Trimotor at Black Hills Airport with a famed South Dakota aviator, Clyde Ice.[3] In March 1933, while coming back from the fields during a storm, his father was killed when he drove over a downed electrical cable and was electrocuted as he stepped out of his automobile.[7] While at USD, Foss and other like-minded students convinced authorities to set up a CAA flying course at the university; he built up 100 flight hours by graduation.He checked out in Grumman F4F Wildcats while still assigned to VMO-1, logging over 150 flight hours in June and July, 1942, and was eventually transferred to Marine Fighting Squadron 121 VMF-121 as the executive officer.[10] On October 9, Foss and his group were catapult launched off the USS Copahee escort carrier and flew 350 miles (560 km) north to reach Guadalcanal.He was sent to Sydney, Australia for rehabilitation, where he met Australian ace Clive "Killer" Caldwell and delivered some lectures on operational flying to RAF pilots, newly assigned to the theater.[9] On January 1, 1943, Foss returned to Guadalcanal, to continue combat operations which lasted until February 9, 1943, although the Japanese attacks had waned from the height of the November 1942 crisis.During the unit's formative years, Foss was actively involved in administration and flying with the squadron, even becoming a member of their North American P-51 Mustang air demonstration team.[28] Campaigning from the cockpit of a light aircraft, Foss served two elected terms as a Republican representative in the South Dakota legislature and, beginning in 1955, at age 39, as the state's youngest governor.[citation needed] After serving as governor, Foss spent a short time working for Raven Industries before becoming the first Commissioner of the newly created American Football League in 1959.During the next seven years, Foss helped expand the league and made lucrative television deals, including the initial five-year, $10.6 million contract with ABC in 1960 to broadcast AFL games.Currently, the institute offers three primary programs; Veterans Inspiring Patriotism (VIP), You are America Civics Series and scholarship contests which run year-round.Foss also provided the foreword to Above and Beyond: the Aviation Medals of Honor by Barrett Tillman, and was profiled in Tom Brokaw's 1998 book about World War II and its warriors, The Greatest Generation.Joe Foss was larger than life, and his heroics in the skies over the Pacific were just the beginning of a journey that would take him to places far from that farm with no electricity and not much hope north of Sioux Falls.[24] American Ace: The Joe Foss Story was an award-winning, hour-length television documentary, produced by the South Dakota Public Broadcasting, first aired in fall 2006.A search necessitated by his pacemaker precluding a metal detector screening had led to the discovery of the star-shaped Medal of Honor, along with a clearly marked dummy-bullet keychain, a second replica bullet and a small nail file (with MOH insignia).Engaging in almost daily combat with the enemy from October 9 to November 19, 1942, Captain Foss personally shot down 23 Japanese aircraft and damaged others so severely that their destruction was extremely probable.In addition, during this period, he successfully led a large number of escort missions, skillfully covering reconnaissance, bombing and photographic planes as well as surface craft.His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal.
President of the National Rifle AssociationGovernor of South DakotaLieutenantL. Roy HouckSigurd AndersonRalph HersethSioux Falls, South DakotaScottsdale, ArizonaArlington National CemeteryRepublicanAmerican Football LeagueSouth Dakota National GuardUnited States Marine CorpsSouth Dakota Air National GuardBrigadier GeneralVMF-121VMF-115World War IIBattle of GuadalcanalMedal of HonorDistinguished Flying CrossAir Medalfighter aceGuadalcanal CampaignAir National Guard20th Governor of South DakotaNational Rifle Association of AmericatelevisionbroadcasterRennerCharles LindberghSpirit of St. LouisFord TrimotorBlack Hills AirportClyde IceWashington High SchoolUniversity of South DakotaSigma Alpha Epsilon147th Field Artillery RegimentNaval AviatorPensacola, FloridaPensacolaMarine Photographic Squadron 1Naval Air Station North IslandSan DiegoGrumman F4F WildcatsOperation WatchtowerVMF-223USS CopaheeHenderson FieldCactus Air ForceMalaitaRoy GeigerMarine Fighting Squadron 115Disney StudiosstogieSydneyClive "Killer" CaldwellEddie RickenbackerKaname HaradaFranklin Delano RooseveltWhite HouseF4U CorsairEmirauMarion CarlKlamath Falls, OregonMarine Corps Air Station Santa BarbaraLieutenant Colonel175th Fighter-Interceptor SquadronKorean WarColonelUnited States Air ForceSouth Dakota legislaturegovernorTom Brokawhigh schoolAmerican LegionBoys StateNew York Citytelevision game showWhat's My LineU.S. House of RepresentativesDemocratGeorge McGovernSen. Francis CaseJoseph H. BottumRaven IndustriesmergerSuper BowlAl DavisMilt WoodardThe American SportsmansyndicatedKLM Royal Dutch AirlinesTime MagazineStetsonJohn F. KennedyErnest HollingsNational Society of Crippled Children and AdultsCampus Crusade for ChristJoe Foss InstituteBarrett TillmanThe Greatest GenerationJohn WayneSouth Dakota Public BroadcastingNational Aviation Hall of FameAir Force AssociationUnited States Air Force AcademyCombat Flight Simulator 2Phoenix Sky Harbor International AirportUnited States Military Academyairport securitystrokeaneurysmNew Year's DayDick CheneyOliver NorthCharlton HestonMarine Corps Air Station MiramarSioux Falls Regional AirportJoe Foss High SchoolPierre, South DakotaBuckeye, ArizonaNaval Aviation Hall of HonorNational Naval Aviation MuseumFlorida