Ryan Petras
“Ryan”
N/A – TBD
Branch: USMC, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
Service Dates: 1998 – 2002
Story uploaded/modified: Friday, March 19, 2010
July 16, 2021 (updated September 9, 2021) Published by Randy Murray
Month: July 2021
July 1, 2021 (updated September 22, 2021) Published by Randy Murray
Jackie “Jack” Jackson
“Full Bird” Colonel
- Flew more than 600 combat missions; 40 earned military medals including 33 Air Medals, 4 Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Navy Commendation Medal for Valor and Heroism.
- Shot down while co-piloting a rescue helicopter … and returned to the combat zone to rescue a fellow marine.
- Piloted the “hoovering” Harrier jet aircraft 5,000 hours, more than any other person in history (with its capacity to “park” in mid-air like a helicopter);
- Flew the Harrier in scores of airshows – cumulatively totaling millions of people viewing — in Independence Day celebrations, the VP airshows at the St. Louis Arch, and other locations events and venues throughout many years;
- He describes the joys of flying for Veterans Airlift Command, taking wounded military men & women and their families all over the country … free. Their website about Wounded Warriors: … “They’ve got heart … They need wings!” See veteransairlift.org
July 1, 2021 (updated September 22, 2021) Published by Randy Murray
Willis W.Corbett
1926 – N/A
Branch: Navy
Service Dates:Enlisted 1943 – 1946
Conflicts/Significant Events: WWII, transported to the Philippines and the South Pacific Islands on The Queen Mary
Story uploaded/modified: Was an original pilot interview for the our project in 2006
