Roy Marlin Voris
Recipient of the Purple Heart medal
Died when: 85 years 325 days (1030 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Captain Roy Marlin "Butch" Voris (September 19, 1919 – August 10, 2005) was an aviator in the United States Navy, a World War II flying ace, and the founder of the Navy's flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels.
During his 22-year naval career Voris flew everything from biplanes to modern jets, and afterward was instrumental in the development of the Navy's F-14 Tomcat strike fighter and NASA's Apollo Lunar Module (LM), both produced by the Grumman Aerospace Corporation.
Often called a "fighter pilot's fighter pilot" and ranked with other better-known American military aviation greats such as Gregory "Pappy" Boyington and Chuck Yeager, Voris was a big man with close-cropped hair, known for his even-temperedness and coolness in the cockpit.
Owing to his superb piloting skills, he survived numerous accidents and emergency situations.Voris was nearly killed by a Japanese Zero that attacked his aircraft during the defense of Guadalcanal in what he later described as his first "real" dog fight (which earned him a Purple Heart).
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