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This Day in History – June 10, 1969 – The X-15 gets a place in history

10 June 1969: The U.S. Air Force donated the first North American Aviation X-15, serial number 56-6670, to the Smithsonian Institution for display at the National Air and Space Museum. The first of three X-15A hypersonic research rocketplanes built by North American for the Air Force and the National Advisory Committee (NACA, the predecessor of NASA), 56-6670 made the first glide flight and

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Strang, Billy J.

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  • Strang, Billy J.

Billy Joe Strang

Preferred Name: Bill
Date of Birth: March 13, 1932
Highest Military Grade: 0-6 – Colonel
Hometown: Levaca, AR
Headed West Date: February 20, 2021
Biography
Pilot Information
Headed West
Album

Bill Strang “served four years in the United States Air Force and returned to Fort Smith to join the Arkansas Air National Guard.”

He flew “every aircraft the Air National Guard supported, from B26 to F16, with a total of seven, different aircrafts from 1955 to 1989.” (1)

 

Source: (1) and for more photos of Bill go to: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/fort-smith-ar/bill-strang-10068531

Units Assigned

  • 1/1957 Received pilot wings
  • USAF – 4 years, Korea, Vietnam
  • 1989 Retired ARANG

 

Awards & Decorations

Flight Info

“flew every aircraft the Air National Guard supported, from B26 to F16, with a total of seven, different aircrafts from 1955 to 1989.”

F-100

Military & Civilian Education

Billy Joe Strang, Col USAF, Ret., “Headed West” on February 20, 2021.

COL US AIR FORCE – KOREA, VIETNAM

Col. Bill Strang was born March 13,1932 in Lavaca, AR to Roxie and Ernest Strang Sr.

Bill loved his family, the 188th, and his life with Freda on their hill. He served four years in the United States Air Force and returned to Fort Smith to join the Arkansas Air National Guard. Bill received his first set of wings in January 1957, but on February 20, 2021, God gave him his permanent wings. He flew every aircraft the Air National Guard supported, from B26 to F16, with a total of seven, different aircrafts from 1955 to 1989. He retired as commander of the 188th in 1989.

Bill was one of the founders of the Lee Creek Rural Water District, and Lee Creek Fire Department. He served as a member of the Board of Directors for thirty years.

He is survived by his wife Freda; one daughter, Marvetta; three sons, Mark, Doug, and Dennis; five sisters, Exine, Nadine , Gelene , Ernestine , and Earlene; one brother, Harley; two granddaughters, Alysia, and Nikki; nine great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ernest Sr. and Roxie Strang, sisters, Alene Fuller and Maxine Brown; brothers, Ernest Jr., James Strang, and Robert Strang; one grandson, Matthew Williams.

Edwards Funeral Home

Bill Strang Fort Smith Ar Photos8
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