Dick Catledge Richard C . Catledge ( November 21 , 1920 – August 12 , 2007 ) , born in Shawnee , Oklahoma , was a General in the US Air Force . He formed and led the first U . S . Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron , the Thunderbirds . Education . He was raised in Memphis , Tennessee . Catledge was a great participant in sports during his high school years , especially in diving . He won the state championship in diving when he was moved back to Oklahoma , where he finished high school . In these years , Catledge would also find one of the things he enjoyed a great deal in life , motorcycles , not to mention the stunts he would come to pull with them . While attending Compton Junior College in southern California , he also won the southern California junior college diving championship . Military career . After college , Catledge joined the Army Air Corps in March 1942 . May of the next year saw him earn his pilot wings and commission in May 1943 . He was assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron , 1st Fighter Group , Mediterranean Theater of Operations , flying the P - 38 Lightning . He flew 23 combat missions , and was shot down on August 28 , 1943 . After his first week of capture he attempted an escape that failed , only to re - try a week later , successfully evading the enemy for nine months until he safely reached Allied territory . After this time he served as a pilot instructor to the P - 6 Hawk , P - 51 Mustang and P - 47 Thunderbolt aircraft . During the summer of 1950 , he was sent to the 57th Fighter Group in Alaska to fly the P - 80 Shooting Star , and in 1951 , converted to the F - 94B . In 1951 , he was promoted to Major and became the Commanding Officer of the 66th Fighter Squadron . He was sent to the Air Command and Staff College , and after graduating in 1952 , he was sent to Luke Air Force Base , Arizona . In 1953 , Catledge became the first leader of the famed United States Air Force Air Demonstration squad , known as the Thunderbirds . After his tour of duty with the Thunderbirds , he was sent to Randolph Air Force Base in the fall of 1954 to become the Director of Inspections at Headquarters Crew Training Air Force . In 1956 , he became the Commanding Officer of the 9th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Komaki Air Base , Japan , and then became the Chief , Tactical Evaluation Branch , at Headquarters Fifth Air Force . In 1959 , he was assigned to the Navy War College , and after graduation , was stationed at Headquarters United States Air Force in the Directorate of Operations . He played a major role in convincing the leadership in the Air Force that the McDonnell Douglas F - 4 Phantom II needed to be equipped with a gun . This led first to the installation of the gun pod , and later an internal gun , which was first introduced in the F - 4E model . Having been promoted to the rank of Colonel , he was assigned in the summer of 1964 to the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing , Hahn Air Base , Germany , where , as the Director of Operations , he flew the F - 100 Super Sabre . He later was transferred to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Bien Hoa Air Base , Republic of Vietnam , where he flew 141 combat missions and served as the wing ’ s commanding officer . He returned to the United States in 1967 and was assigned as Commander of the 4510th Combat Crew Training Wing at Luke Air Force Base . He was promoted to Brigadier General , and in July 1969 was assigned to Headquarters Tactical Air Command as Inspector General . He was promoted to Major General and became the Commanding Officer of the Tactical Air Warfare Center at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida . Retirement . General Catledge retired in 1973 and lived with his wife Linda in Niceville , Florida . Catledge died of complications from pneumonia on August 12 , 2007 , at the age of 87 .