Now, getting back to AMERICAN history, my vote goes to Floridian Daniel James, Jr. (1925-1978)
Growing up in depression era Pensacola he had to fight constantly to move up the economic ladder. He was such a scrapper that he was dubbed "The Panther."
He longed to serve his country, and WWII gave him the chance. Unfortunately he proved to be such an excellent flying instructor, he never did see any face-to-face aerial combat until the Korean War.
Then there was that lull for about 12 years in which he served in a few mundane positions until he was transferred to Thailand, and led the mission that resulted in the highest kill number of any single aerial mission of that conflict.
Tapped to become the base commander of Wheelus Air Base in northern Libya (one like many here in the US that had its dependent living quarters on the outer perimeter), it was he who stood defiantly at the main gate as the Libyan military's tanks encircled the base waiting for the 72-hour deadline they'd given Col. James to expire before these tanks would roll through the family housing area. The 72 hours arrived, the tanks rolled in, but they found nothing.
Colonel James himself flew out the final military transport jet full of wives, children, and the final contingent of troops just two hours before.
His final position was to serve as head of the North American Air Defense Command headquarted beneath Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado during the final days of the Ford administration.
This was the time that many here in the US suggested that we nuke those Soviets to show them who's boss. Had they succeeded, it would have been General James who would be the one to "push the button."
James retired from his illustrious career in early February, 1977. Just a couple weeks into the Carter administration. Twenty-three days later James was dead.
At the flying school where he'd served 30 years prior, they sought to keep his memory alive by doing two things: naming the engineering section in his honor and erecting a memorial to stand in front of it. It took the school a while to find it, but it succeeded in eventually finding what was perhaps the last remaining F-4 Phantom figher aircraft James had flown.
At its dedication, the President of the US himself was there to unveil it.
This was the very first time any sitting President had ever visited this flying school, but Ronald Reagan himself also knew of Daniel James's career too and was happy to set foot on Tuskegee Institute's famed soil.
General James: A Tuskegee Airman and the first black four-star general in the US military.
When someone back in the early 1970's asked Gen. James about the difference him and the more well-known group called the Black Panthers, his reply was simple:
"This Black Panther fights FOR his country."
And this white man living in the South honestly believes to this day that James deserved every military and civilian honor they ever bestowed on him, and a lot more that they should have.
