Early Years, Education, and Military Service
Steger was born to Merritt Steger and the former Lottie Reese in Dallas and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School there in 1938. He attended Baptist-affiliated Baylor University in Waco from 1938 to 1941.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, Steger left Baylor to volunteer for the United States Army Air Corps. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and received his pilot’s wings in November 1942. He flew fifty-six combat missions piloting British Spitfire aircraft in the Tunisian, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns. In recognition for his bravery as a fighter pilot in World War II, Steger received the Air Medal and four Oak Leaf Clusters and attained the rank of captain. Upon returning from overseas until his discharge from the Army in 1947, Steger served as a test pilot in an experimental program to test the first ever military jet aircraft.
After his military service, Steger returned to Dallas and in 1948 married the former Ann Hollandsworth. Thye couple had one son, Merritt Reed Steger, who predeceased his father. Steger received his law degree in 1950 from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Steger then opened his law practice in Longview in Gregg County.
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