- Olds, Robin
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▪ 2008brigadier general (ret.), U.S. Air Forceborn July 14, 1922 , Honolulu, Hawaiidied June 14, 2007, Steamboat Springs, Colo.was a World War II ace fighter pilot who later flew 152 combat missions during the Vietnam War. Olds was perhaps best known for commanding the air force wing that on Jan. 2, 1967, downed seven MiGs over North Vietnam in the war's biggest air battle. The son of an Army Air Corps (predecessor of the U.S. Air Force) major general, Olds attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he earned All-American honours in football. After graduating in 1943, he went on to fly 107 combat missions during World War II, shooting down 12 enemy planes. After the war he became a member of the air force's first jet Aerial Acrobatic Demonstration Team. In 1968 he was awarded the Air Force Cross for his role in the destruction in 1967 of the Paul Doumer Bridge near Hanoi. From 1967 to 1971 Olds served as commandant of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy. After serving two years (1971–73) as director of aerospace safety, Olds retired from the military.
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Universalium. 2010.
