History
The field is named in honor of Captain Lawrence C. Gray, who lost his life during a free balloon flight at the field on November 4, 1927. Captain Gray (1889–1927) served as a private in World War I and after the war attended balloon and flying schools, receiving a commission. He then joined the Army Air Service and the Airship School where he made test flights. Captain Gray became a pioneer in stratospheric flight, setting a U.S. altitude record of 29,000 feet on his first flight. He reached higher heights, including 42,000 feet on the fatal November flight on which he died of oxygen deprivation.
Read more about this topic: Gray Army Airfield
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No matter how vital experience might be while you lived it, no sooner was it ended and dead than it became as lifeless as the piles of dry dust in a school history book.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)
“The history of a soldier’s wound beguiles the pain of it.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“When the history of this period is written, [William Jennings] Bryan will stand out as one of the most remarkable men of his generation and one of the biggest political men of our country.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)