Captain Roy Marlin "Butch" Voris was an aviator in the United States Navy, a World War II flying ace, and founder of the Navy's flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels. During his 22-year naval career Voris flew everything from biplanes to modern jets, and afterward was instrumental in the development of the Navy's F-14 Tomcat strike fighter and NASA's Apollo Lunar Module, both produced by the Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Often called a "fighter pilot's fighter pilot" and ranked with other better-known American military aviation greats such as Gregory "Pappy" Boyington and Chuck Yeager, Voris was a big man with close-cropped hair, known for his even-temperedness and coolness in the cockpit. Owing to his superb piloting skills, he survived numerous accidents and emergency situations. Voris was nearly killed by a Japanese Zero that attacked his aircraft during the defense of Guadalcanal in what he later described as his first "real" dog fight. 

September 19th, 1919 in Los Angeles  /  Died:   Aug 10th, 2005 - at the age of 86