CAPT. RALPH H. FLETCHER | MAHOF CLASS OF 2021
0Born in 1911, Ralph Fletcher grew up in Portage, MI, and attended Western State Teachers College (now WMU) in Kalamazoo. Eventually graduating in 1932 from the Milwaukee School of Engineering with BS degree in electrical engineering, Fletcher joined the United States Navy in 1937, earned his wings in December of 1938, and served as a carrier pilot assigned to patrol the Pacific Ocean aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga from 1938-39. Reassigned to Scouting Squadron 72 flying from the U.S.S. Wasp, he participated in Atlantic operations until January 1942. At the onset of WWII, then-Lieutenant Fletcher was reassigned to the U.S. Naval Air Station in Miami, FL as a fighter and dive-bomber instructor, and later served as the Commanding Officer of the Air Station’s Night Flying Division. Deployed to the Pacific in 1944 as the Aviation Officer for Amphibious Group 12 (and later the 5th Amphibious Force), Fletcher saw combat throughout the Central and Western Pacific and over Japan. Retiring from active duty in 1946, he served in the Naval Reserves until 1951, and retired at the rank of Captain. As a civilian, Ralph Fletcher briefly served as Senior Test Engineer for the Sikorsky Division of the United Aircraft Corporation, and was then employed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (now the Federal Aviation Administration), Washington, DC, in multiple capacities from 1946 to 1972, where he eventually retired as Chief, Designation & Documentation of the Airspace Utilization Division, Air Traffic Service.
The Air Zoo is a world-class, Smithsonian-affiliated aerospace and science museum with over 100 air and space artifacts, inspiring interactive exhibits, full-motion flight simulators, indoor amusement park rides, a theater and over 100 education programs!