Elmer J . Rogers , Jr . Elmer Joseph Rogers , Jr . ( October 12 , 1903 – June 30 , 2002 ) was a United States Air Force lieutenant general . Biography . Rogers was born at Taunton , Massachusetts , in 1903 . His father was Elmer J . Rogers , Sr . , the owner of a hardware store ; his mother was Matilda Martell Rogers , a housewife . General Rogers was the oldest of three children , followed by a brother , Elmer , who became a firefighter in Quincy , Massachusetts , and a sister , Barbara , who graduated from the Brigham & Women ' s Hospital nursing program and then became a home care nurse in Connecticut . After graduating from high school in Quincy , Massachusetts in 1920 , he attended the Emerson Institute and later studied at Harvard University . Appointed a flying cadet in March 1924 , Rogers entered Primary Flying School at Brooks Field , Texas , graduated from Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field , Texas on March 14 , 1925 and was commissioned a second 1ieutenant in the Air Service Reserve . On June 30 , 1926 he received his regular commission as a second lieutenant of Air Corps . Assigned as a squadron adjutant , a year later Rogers became a flying instructor at Brooks and Kelly fields , successively . Entering the Air Corps Technical School at Chanute Field , Ill . , in September 1932 , the general graduated the following June . Going to Hawaii , Rogers served with the Fourth Observation Squadron at Luke Field , and in June 1935 was transferred to the 18th Composite Ting at Fort Shafter . The following April he went to Barksdale Field , Louisiana , for duty with the Third Attack Group . Graduating from the Air Corps Tactical School in 1939 , Rogers was assigned as an instructor with the Georgia National Guard . Joining the War Department General Staff in August 1941 , he was appointed a courier of the Combined Subject Section of the Strategy and Policy Group , War Plans Division , later becoming chief of the section . In January 1943 , he moved to Tampa , Florida , as deputy chief of staff of the Third Air Force . The following August , Rogers assumed command of the 465th Bomb Group at McCook Field , Neb . , taking it to the Mediterranean Theater in February 1944 . On March 2 , he was wounded in action and hospitalized . Released from the hospital on May 14 , 1944 , the general was named commanding officer of the 97th Bomb Group in that theater . In August , he became deputy assistant chief of staff for operations of the l5th Air Force , and two months later was appointed assistant chief of staff for operations of the Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force . This latter assignment was in addition to a corresponding position he already occupied in the 15th Air Force . In June 1945 , Rogers became the chief of Staff of the 15th Air force and assumed command of that organization September 1 , 1945 . Returning to the United States , Rogers joined the Air Force headquarters at Washington , D . C . , in December 1945 as chief of the Policy Division in the Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Plans . Entering the National War College at Washington , D . C . , in August 1947 , he graduated the next June and was assigned to the Alaskan Command at Fort Richardson , Alaska to become director of plans and operations . Hospitalized in November 1948 , Rogers returned the following May to the Alaskan Command in the same capacity , remaining there until December 1950 . In December , the general became the Air Force member on the Joint Strategic Survey Committee , Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington , D . C . In September 1953 , Rogers was appointed operations officer of the Far East Command at Tokyo , Japan and on July 15 , 1954 was named deputy chief of staff for plans of the Far East Command . He was designated chief of staff , Far East Command and United Nations Command April 26 , 1955 . Military decorations . His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal , Silver Star , Legion of Merit , Distinguished Flying Cross , Bronze Star Medal , Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters , Purple Heart , Presidential Unit Citation , and European Theater Medal with eight battle stars . His foreign decorations include the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire , Croix de Guerre with Palm ( French ) , Pilots Citation , Royal Yugoslavian Air Force , the Order of the White Elephant , 2nd Class ( Thailand ) , the Ulchi Distinguished Military Service Medal with Gold Star ( Republic of Korea ) , the Order of the Rising Sun ( Japan ) , and the Military Order of Taeguk ( Korea ) . These later two decorations are still subject to Congressional approval . He was rated a command pilot , combat and aircraft observer . Personal life . General Rogers was married twice . He had two daughters , Gloria and Judy , with his first wife , Dorothy , and the couple divorced . His second wife , Wilma Rebecca Hague , was a colonel in the Women ' s Army Corps . They were stationed together in Japan , where they had three maids , all Japanese women in their twenties . Wilma and the general became attached to one of them , Kazuko Sawaji , and asked her if she would like to come with them as their ward when their time in Japan was up . They also spoke with her family about this . Kazuko and the Sawaji family agreed , and she went to Turkey with the Rogers . Later , when the couple retired and lived in Falls Church , Virginia , Kazuko lived with them . She was like another daughter to them , and they put her through the interior design program at Marymount University . After she was married , Kazuko moved to nearby McLean . She was the primary caregiver to General Rogers for the last several years of his life .