General Billy Mitchell

The Father of the United States Air Force

Billy Mitchell fought in the Spanish-American War and was a pilot in WW1 gaining much influence due to his leadership of a large-scale aerial attack involving 1500 air craft against German ground forces. He was also known (infamously) for his opposition to current military doctrine regarding air power and often spoke out against his superiors earning him a court martial.

He proved that air power was superior to battleships by sinking a battle ship and requested the Navy to build more aircraft carriers as he saw these as the future of navy warfare. Laughed at, scorned, demoted and eventually cashiered out of the armed forces for his vision, he died in 1936 of a heart attack. The B-25 Mitchell medium bombers that launched from an aircraft carrier to attack Japan right after Pearl Harbour were named in his honor.

It takes Valor to stand up to your peers and fight for the future.