William Ellsworth Kepner William Ellsworth Kepner ( 6 January 1893 in Miami , Indiana - 3 July 1982 in Orlando , Florida ) was an officer in the United States Army , United States Army Air Corps , pioneer balloonist and airship pilot . Biography . He was born on 3 January 1893 in Miami , Indiana . From 1909 to 1913 , Kepner served in the US Marine Corps . By 1916 he was a second lieutenant in the Indiana National Guard . After a short spell in the US cavalry , in 1917 he transferred to the infantry as a captain and commanded a company at the Battle of Chateau - Thierry . He subsequently lead the 3rd Battalion of the 4th US Infantry in the Meuse - Argonne offensive . In 1920 , at the age of 27 , he transferred to the US Army Air Corps and trained as a balloon pilot , then subsequently as an airship pilot . From 1927 to 1929 he participated very prominently in several US national and international balloon races , most notably winning the prestigious Gordon Bennett Cup with co - pilot William Olmstead Eareckson in June 1928 . In August 1929 he was commissioned as test pilot of the radical metal - hulled airship " ZMC - 2 " , newly completed at Grosse Ile , Michigan . After a successful series of evaluation flights , he flew the airship in September of that year to what was to become its sole home base at Lakehurst , New Jersey , arriving without mishap except for a small perforation in the envelope which press reports of the time claimed to be the result of a pot - shot en route from someone on the ground . Promoted to the rank of major in October 1930 , he took command of the Materiel Division ' s Lighter - than - Air Branch at Wright Field , Ohio . In the period 1930 - 32 , he learned to fly fixed - wing aircraft . In the summer of 1934 , Kepner took command of the joint National Geographic Society - US Army Air Corps Stratosphere Flight near Rapid City , South Dakota to make an attempt with the specially constructed balloon " Explorer " on the manned balloon altitude record . On 29 July , the balloon ascended with himself and two fellow US Army Air Force officers , Capt . Albert W . Stevens and Capt . Orvil A . Anderson as crew . However , the attempt nearly ended in tragedy when the balloon envelope ruptured near maximum height , sending the spherical pressurised gondola plunging earthwards . Fortunately , as the gondola reached lower altitudes , all three occupants were able to exit and safely parachute to earth shortly before it crashed . Ascending through the ranks , in February 1942 he was eventually promoted to major - general in April 1943 , and in September of that year took command of 8th Fighter Command in the European Theatre . There he supervised the vital role that the fighters played both as guardians of the 8th Air Force ' s bombers and as ground - attack support for ground forces , not least in the crucial period around D - Day . In August 1944 , Kepner took command of the 8th Air Force ' s 2nd Bomb Division . During the war he personally flew 24 combat missions in fighters and bombers and received various decorations from his own country and also from several allied nations . Immediately after the war he took command of the 12th Tactical Air Command . Various appointments followed , including command of the Atomic Energy Division , U . S . Air Force Headquarters . In 1950 , Kepner was promoted to the rank of lt . - general and became commander - in - chief of US Air Force Alaska Command . He retired from military service on 28 February 1953 , and after moving to Orlando , Florida , died there on 3 July 1982 .