Early Life
Orland "O.K." Armstrong was born in Willow Springs, Missouri, the third of nine children. His father, Reverend William Armstrong, was a schoolteacher and minister. The family moved frequently around southern Missouri as his father changed teaching jobs or founded new churches. Finally in 1907 the family settled in Carterville, Missouri and it was from Carterville High School that Orland graduated as valedictorian in 1912. Armstrong attended Drury College in Springfield, Missouri graduating summa cum laude in 1916 with a Bachelors degree in Education.
Armstrong's first teaching position came at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Missouri, where he taught English and served as basketball coach. Southwest Baptist was a natural fit for Armstrong for it was his maternal grandfather, Reverend Daniel Preston, who was one of the college founders. With America's entry into World War I in April, 1917 Armstrong took a leave of absence to serve in the U.S. Army. Assigned to the Army Signal Corps, he received pilot training and would serve as an instructor pilot for the duration of the war. While serving as an instructor pilot Armstrong made his first foray into the world of journalism by acting as editor of the aviation magazine Propeller. Following the end of World War I Armstrong took a position with the YMCA, going to France for two years. In France he helped care for Russian prisoners of war awaiting return to their homeland.
After returning from France in 1920 Armstrong chose to further his education at Cumberland University, earning his second Bachelors degree and a law degree in 1922. Armstrong took and passed the Missouri Bar exam but chose not to enter into a law practice. He instead enrolled in the University of Missouri, where he earned both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Journalism in 1925. Resuming his role as an educator, Orland Armstrong founded the University of Florida School of Journalism. In addition to his teaching positions, Armstrong had worked as a freelance journalist for several newspapers and national magazines since the mid-1920s. One which gained him notoriety was a rare 1927 interview with Charles Lindberg for Boys' Life magazine. The two aviators, both with Missouri ties, became lifelong friends thereafter.
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