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Vice Admiral Forrest Silas Petersen was born in
Holdrege, May 16, 1922 and grew up in Gibbon. He attended the University of Nebraska—Lincoln for two years prior to entering the U. S. Naval
Academy in 1941. During World War II Admiral Petersen saw action in the
Mariana and Western Caroline
Islands, Leyte Gulf, Okinawa, and Japan. He became a Naval Aviator in 1947. Admiral
Petersen participated in test flights of the X-15, receiving the NASA
Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the National
Society of Aerospace Professional’s Montgomery Award. He was joint recipient
of the Collier Trophy and was also awarded numerous military decorations. Admiral
Petersen was appointed Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy, in 1976 and assumed command of the Naval Air
Systems Command. Admiral Petersen died in 1990 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. He was a member of the Society of Experimental Test
Pilots and the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics.
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