Ernest T . Cragg Ernest Thorpe Cragg ( January 19 , 1922 – March 9 , 2006 ) was a Major General in the United States Air Force . Biography . Pre World War II . Ernest T . Cragg was born in Mount Vernon , New York . He spent his youth in the Greenwhich / Cos Cob area of Connecticut , graduating from Greenwich High School in 1939 . He subsequently attended the Stanton Preparatory Academy in Cornwall New York to complete work needed for enrollment in the United States Military Academy . World War II . On July 1 , 1940 , then Cadet Cragg entered what became the first of the World War II accelerated 3 - year West Point classes , completing basic flight training by graduation on June 1 , 1943 . He received advanced flight training at Craig Field and Matagorda Island . After training , he was assigned to the 401st fighter bomber squadron , 370th fighter group , which joined the 9th Air Force in England in early 1944 . He served the squadron as pilot , flight commander and assistant operations officer . The unit began combat operations May 1 , 1944 . By October he had competed 76 combat missions , totaling 175 flying hours in P - 38 and P - 51 aircraft . During those missions he compiled an air - to - air combat record of 2 confirmed kills , 2 probable kills and 1 damaged . He flew two air cover missions over the Normandy Invasion fleet on D - Day . Having completed his combat tour , rather than return to the US , he requested and received an assignment to the 9th Infantry Division and the 9th Armored Division as air liaison officer and forward air controller ; then to the IX Tactical Air Command as combat operations duty officer . By V - E Day he had attained the rank of major and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters . In the days following the end of the war he met and subsequently married , while still in Germany , his wife , First Lieutenant Helen Claire Petraborg , a nurse with the 91st Evacuation Hospital . After the wedding she returned to the United States while he made preparations to go to the Pacific for the then expected invasion of Japan . With the surrender of Japan , he stayed on in Germany for another year , serving in the occupation with the 70th Fighter Wing at Neubiberg , Germany , as the assistant chief of staff , operations . Military career after World War II . After the war , he served in the Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base , Virginia , as director of special weapons . While a Lieutenant Colonel he became the commander of the 563rd Fighter - Bomber Squadron ( which flew F - 86 aircraft ) at Clovis ( now Cannon ) AFB in New Mexico . He led the squadron on its " Fly Away " to Bitburg Air Base Germany in 1954 . His next assignment was with the Twelfth Air Force in Ramstein , Germany . There he served as chief , Special Weapons Division ; chief , Tactical Operations Division ; and later deputy director of operations and training . In January 1958 he was appointed director of the Combat Operations Center , Twelfth Air Force , and U . S . Air Forces in Europe Advanced Echelon , ( aka Kindsbach Cave ) In 1958 then Colonel Cragg returned to the United States and was assigned to Headquarters , USAF in the Pentagon . In 1963 , Colonel Cragg became first the vice commander , and then the commander of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing ( flying F - 100s ) at RAF Wethersfield England . He also served as commander of the 3500th Pilot Training Wing ( flying T - 37s and T - 38s ) at Reese AFB outside Lubbock , Texas , which he considered his favorite and most challenging assignment . Upon his promotion to Brigadier General he became deputy chief of staff , operations , the Air Training Command , Randolph AFB Texas . In 1969 he returned to the Pentagon , first as Assistant Director and then as Deputy Director of Aerospace Programs ( after receiving his second star ) . With the death of his wife Helen in 1972 , General Cragg was reassigned to be Vice Commander of Second Air Force at Barksdale AFB . A year later he became the commander of the Air Force Inspection and Safety Center at Norton AFB , California . His final assignment was as chief of staff of the Allied Air Forces Southern Europe , based in Naples , Italy . A command pilot with more than 5 , 000 flying hours , he retired in 1975 . Decorations . General Cragg ' s decorations include the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster , the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters , the Distinguished Flying Cross , the Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters , the Air Force Commendation Medal , the Army Commendation Medal , the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award , and the Belgian Fourragère . Activities after Retirement . Upon retiring from the military , he became general director of RTB - Olympic Travel Limited in New York City . This company was chartered to provide the logistical planning and management for all US travel to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . The US boycott of those games effectively ended operations for that company . After the Olympics , RTB - Olympic Travel was reorganized in Washington DC as a combination of Travelmasters International , Plane Travel , and The Society of Military Travelers . General Cragg served as chief executive officer . The companies catered to military personnel and their families . In this capacity he wrote a space available travel guide for retired military personnel . The agency ' s specialties were hunting trips ( to Turkey and the former Yugoslavia ) and trips to World War II European battlefields . With the advent of 50th anniversaries of various battles he was quite active , culminating in a formal dinner in England sponsored by Queen Elizabeth on the evening before the 50th anniversary of D - Day General Cragg was an outdoorsman and hunter . He was active with the local chapter of Ducks Unlimited serving his home in Arlington , Virginia . He hunted ducks & geese on Maryland ' s Eastern Shore ; white tail deer , dove , quail & wild turkey in Texas ; and pheasants in North Dakota . He died on March 9 , 2006 and was buried with full military honors alongside his first wife , Helen , in Section 5 , Plot 104 Arlington National Cemetery .