All Rights Reserved. They came to attend the memorial service for John R. Boyd, colonel, United States Air Force, retired.
Winter often lingers in the hills of northern Virginia.
And on that Thursday morning a cold rain and overcast skies caused many in the crowd to wrap their winter coats tighter and to hurry for the doors of the chapel. Boyd was a fighter pilot. He wore the Air Force uniform for 24 years. And during that time he made more contributions to fighter tactics, aircraft design, and the theory of air combat than any man in Air Force history. But on that soft and dreary day when his ashes were laid to rest, the U.S. Air Force all but ignored his passing.