102nd Engineers, NY National Guard
© 1997 New York State
Division of Military & Naval Affairs
and NY National Guard.
All rights reserved.
1883-1941 |
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102nd Engineers, NY National Guard © 1997 New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs and NY National Guard. All rights reserved. |
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On October 26, 1909, EB Lieutenant Frederick E. Humphreys, after only 3 hours of flight instruction from Wilbur Wright, took a new plane, just delivered to the Signal Corps, into the air over College Park, Maryland and soloed for three minutes to establish himself as a pioneer in military aviation. On the 50th anniversary of that flight, October 26, 1959, Humphreys was memorialized in a ceremony at the U.S. Army Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir. A West Point graduate in 1906, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. He resigned from that service in 1910, but continued activity in the New York National Guard, later serving on the Mexican Border and in World War I. He received an honorable discharge in 1919 but returned to his New York National Guard Regiment in 1939 with the rank of Brigadier General. He died in 1941 at the age of 58. on Frederick E. Humphreys, by R.H. vonHasseln, DMNA Historian, which may be found on the Military History page of the State of New York Division of Military & Naval Affairs Homepage. You may go to it by clicking on the links above. To return to this site, use your "Back" button. |
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You will find a large photo of the plane and a nice story on the plane and Lt. Humphreys on the US Air Force Museum website. You can visit that reference by clicking on: Frederick Humphreys I heartily recommend that you visit the homepage Plan to spend some time on this wonderful site. |
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From The Early Birds of Aviation Roster of Members January 1, 1993 If you have any more information on this Early Bird, please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper Back 
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