People

Born July 13, 1920 in South Pittsburg, James “Jim” Thomas Fitz-Gerald, Jr. Interested in aviation since childhood, he graduated in the first class of “Wings of West Point”. Assigned in April 1944 to the Eighth Air Force in England, he was taken prisoner in August after his plane was shot down over Germany during his twenty-eighth combat mission. He was a POW in Stalag Luft III Prison until liberated in April 1945.
After World War II, Fitz-Gerald, a U.S. Air Force Captain and decorated veteran, was assigned jet-propelled aircraft development at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Transferred to California’s Muroc Air Base, Fitz-Gerald piloted Bell’s “XS-1” rocket plane to Mach 1.1 in his first attempt on February 24, 1948, to become the second man to break the sound barrier.

Jobyna Ralston (born Jobyna Lancaster Raulston in South Pittsburg, November 21, 1899 – January 22, 1967) was an American stage and film actress. She had a featured role in Wings in 1927, and is remembered for her on-screen chemistry with Harold Lloyd, with whom she appeared in seven films.
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