•HRES 1349 IH 
Whereas the Air Force has long been an organization that at-
tracts successful and pioneering individuals, including 
great heroes who sacrificed significantly for the good of 
the Nation, proving that a culture of success is best aided 
by celebrating diversity within the ranks; 
Whereas, on March 11, 1918, Army Air Service Lieutenant 
Paul Baer became the first American pilot to shoot down 
an enemy aircraft, earning the Distinguished Service 
Cross; 
Whereas, on April 2, 1939, the National Defense Act of 1940 
was signed, authorizing the Air Corps to train African- 
American pilots, and the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama 
began flight training with 12 African-American pilot can-
didates in July of 1941; 
Whereas, in August 1942, Lieutenant Colonel Jacqueline 
Cochran was appointed as the director of the new Women 
Airforce Service Pilots, known as WASPs, and was the 
first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953; 
Whereas, on August 13, 1945, First Lieutenant Oscar 
Perdomo became an ‘‘Ace in a Day’’ and the final Ace 
of World War II by shooting down 5 enemy aircraft in 
a single day, and received a Distinguished Service Cross 
for extraordinary heroism in action and an Air Medal 
with an oak leaf cluster; 
Whereas Major Richard Bong, the top United States Ace of 
all time and known as the ‘‘Ace of Aces’’, officially shot 
down 40 enemy aircraft over the course of WWII while 
flying a P–38 in the Pacific theater and earning a Con-
gressional Medal of Honor; 
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•HRES 1349 IH 
Whereas, following President Truman’s Executive Order 
9981, the Air Force became the first branch to enact a 
plan for racial integration of all personnel and units; 
Whereas, in 1948, the Women’s Armed Service Integration 
Act was enacted, inspiring Staff Seargent Esther Blake, 
who had previously experienced both of her sons being 
shot down in combat but returned safely by the end of 
World War II, to sign up in the first minute of the first 
day of eligibility; 
Whereas, in 1954, the former Tuskegee Airman General Ben-
jamin O. Davis, Jr., became the first African-American 
general in the Air Force; 
Whereas, in June 1965, Major Edward White became the 
first 
United 
States 
astronaut 
to 
conduct 
an 
extravehicular ‘‘walk’’ in space while embarked in Gemini 
4; 
Whereas General Daniel ‘‘Chappie’’ James, Jr., a veteran of 
3 wars, became the first African American to reach the 
rank of four-star general on September 1, 1975; 
Whereas, on June 28, 1976, the Air Force Academy admitted 
the first female cadets of whom one member, General 
Janet Wolfenbarger, would later become the first female 
four-star general in the Air Force in 2012; 
Whereas, in January 1978, Colonel Ellison Onizuka became 
an astronaut candidate and later became the first Asian 
American in space on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 
1985; 
Whereas Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became the 
first African-American astronaut to enter spaceflight on 
the Space Shuttle Challenger on August 30, 1983, for 
the first of his 4 shuttle missions; 
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•HRES 1349 IH 
Whereas, on June 10, 1989, Captain Jacquelyn Parker be-
came the first woman to graduate from the Air Force 
Test Pilot School; 
Whereas, on October 3, 1993, Technical Sergeant Timothy 
Wilkinson ran through enemy fire as a pararescueman to 
extricate dead and wounded special operations forces in 
Mogadishu, Somalia, during the longest sustained fire 
fight in over 20 years; and 
Whereas, on July 23, 1999, Colonel Eileen Collins became 
the first female commander of a space shuttle mission 
when Space Shuttle Columbia launched: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) commends the stalwart spirit of the Air 
Force to adapt to new technology and societal 
changes; 
(2) honors the Airmen past and present who 
have so honorably served the Nation and the world; 
and 
(3) congratulates the United States Air Force 
on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. 
Æ 
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