Robert Michael White (1924 - 2010)

Born 6 Jul 1924 in New York City, New York, United States

Died 17 Mar 2010 at age 85 in Orlando, Orange, Florida, United States

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Biography

Robert Michael White is Notable.

Robert Michael "Bob" White (July 6, 1924 – March 17, 2010), (Maj Gen, USAF), was an American military aircraft test pilot, fighter pilot, electrical engineer, and a Major general in the United States Air Force.

1924	Born in New York City, New York, USA
1942	Entered military in the United States Army Air Forces, assigned to 355th Fighter Wing, Eighth Air Force
1945	Shot down over Germany, captured, left active duty on release & return to US. Awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal.	Army Distinguished Service
1951	Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, New York University. Recalled to active duty, Korean War.
1957	Selected by the USAF for the X-15 program,[1] flew sixteen X-15 missions, attained a top speed of Mach 6.04 (fastest X-15 flight) and a maximum altitude of 95,936 meters on separate flights.
1958	Selected by the USAF for the "Man in Space Soonest" project, cancelled in favor of NASA Project Mercury. [2]
1962	Became the first X-15 pilot to exceed 50 miles (80467 m) in altitude on X-15 flight 62, thus qualifying him to be a USAF Astronaut. Awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.	NASA Distinguished Service
1966	Master of Business Administration, George Washington University
1967	Assigned Deputy Commander for Operations, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, flew missions over North Vietnam, awarded the Air Force Cross	Air Force Cross
1970	Commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB
1975	Promoted to Major General, Chief of Staff of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force
1981	Retired from the Air Force. During his Air Force career, he was awarded two Air Force Distinguished Service Medals, four Silver Star Medals, the Legion of Merit, five Distinguished Flying Cross Medals, the Bronze Star and seventeen Air Medals.

Air Force Distinguished Service	Silver Star	Legion of Merit	Distinguished Flying Cross	Bronze Star	Air Medal

Obituary

WHITE, MAJOR GENERAL ROBERT MICHAEL, 85, passed away on March 17, 2010 in Orlando, FL. A command pilot astronaut and decorated military veteran, Major General White broke a number of altitude and speed records with the North American X-15 experimental aircraft during the 1960s and supervised the design and development of several modern military aircraft.

White was born in New York City on July 6, 1924. He entered active military service in 1942 as a cadet in the U.S. Air Force and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. During WWII, while serving with the 355th Fighter Group in the European Theater of Operations, he was shot down over Germany and remained a prisoner of war until 1945. In the Korean War, he served as a fighter pilot and flight commander with the 40th Fighter Squadron based at Johnson Air Base in Japan. During the Vietnam War, he flew 70 combat missions over North Vietnam and led the attack against the Paul Doumer Bridge in Hanoi, for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross.

White earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from New York University, a Master of Science degree in business administration from George Washington University and attended the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base where he later served as assistant chief of the Manned Spacecraft Operations Branch and commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center responsible for the research and flight testing of manned and unmanned aerospace vehicles, including the F-15 Air Superiority Fighter and the A-X ground attack aircraft.

In 1958, the Air Force designated White its primary pilot for the North American X-15 program that bridged the gap between manned atmospheric flight and the space program. He set a new air speed record in 1961, flying the X-15 at a speed of 2,275 mph; later became the first human to fly an aircraft at Mach 4 and then Mach 5. In 1961, he became the first pilot to fly a winged craft at six times the speed of sound (Mach 6), and in 1962, flew the X-15 to an altitude of 59 miles, making him the first "winged astronaut" and one of only a few who have flown into space without a conventional spacecraft. For these accomplishments, President Kennedy conferred on White the nation's most prestigious aviation award - the Robert J. Collier Trophy. Today, the X-15 remains the fastest airplane ever flown and the rocket-powered aircraft hangs in the Smithsonian's National Air Space Museum.

In 1975, White won his second star, became Chief of Staff of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force and was promoted to the grade of major general. He retired from active duty on Feb. 1, 1981.

White is preceded in death by his wife Chris. He is survived by his brother Albert, Eastchester, NY; children, Greg (Tammy), Orlando, FL, Pamela, Pelham, AL, Maureen McFillin, Hoover, AL, and Dennis, Sarasota, FL; grandchildren, Gregory and Sarah White, and Michael and Meredith McFillin; niece Carolyn; and nephew Jeffrey. Major General White and his wife Chris will be buried at the Arlington National Cemetery. The family requests that donations be made to the Wounded Warriors Project or Cornerstone Hospice.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia List of Astronauts, 1954
2. ↑ Wikipedia List of Astronauts, 1958
3. ↑ Published in the Orlando Sentinel, 20 Mar 2010.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Robert M White
• Wikidata: Item Q2620784, en:Wikipedia
• Find A Grave: Memorial #49653066
• Ancestry Profile
• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VMZG-WZJ : 20 May 2014), Robert M White, 17 Mar 2010; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
• NASA Bio
• "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMX8-C9F : 5 December 2014), Robert M White, enlisted 25 Nov 1942, New York City, New York, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 126323, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
• "New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSCG-M1P : 8 November 2014), Robert White, New York, A.D. 02, E.D. 46, Queens, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 12, line 02, New York State Archives, Albany.
• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQRY-K99 : accessed 15 February 2018), Robert White in household of Robert White, Assembly District 21, Brooklyn, New York City, Kings, New York, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 24-2522, sheet 7A, line 22, family 173, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2613.