Colonel John Boyd is one of Erie's unsung heroes. His theories in aerial warfare are the cornerstones to all tactical theories today.

His devotion to caring about others started with the loss of his father at the age of three and being raised by his widowed mother, Elsie. He became a life guard at the Peninsula under his mentor Frank Pettinato and that was his only occupation listed on his Air Force application.

John Boyd's theories have made our Air Forces the most powerful in the world, he is the father of the F15, F16 and the F18. One only has to see a demonstration by the "Blue Angels" to see some of his theories in action.

Henry Ford revolutionized manufacturing with the assembly line, Eli Whitney had the cotton mill. John Boyd's theories were every bit as world changing as any of those and many others. But John's were life saving for both the pilots and the civilian population. Thru his work we became the greatest Air Force in the world and because of that, he has saved countless lives.

When one thinks of the contributions that Col. John Boyd gave to the world of avaition there are only 2 names who have given as much and those names are Orville and Wilbur.

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