Military
James D. Eastham
Capt. Wilbur Jackson Thomas
General Alfred W. Ellet
Reuben Waller
Earl Forgy, Jr.
James D. Eastham
James D. Eastham, experimental test pilot, was born June 18, 1924, in El Dorado, KS. A pilot with the Army Air Corp during WW II, he also flew fighter missions during the Korean Conflict and served in the Air Force reserves.
Attending flight training and instructional schools, both civilian and military, he later graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1955.
Eastham tested the world’s first three Mach 3-plus aircraft: the A-12, YF-12A, and SR-71 Blackbird. He also wrote the flight manual on the SR-71.
As a test pilot for Hughes Aircraft, he worked on the Falcon Missile project. He flew on 800 missions and fired a record 350 missiles. He was also the B-58 test pilot B-58 test pilot, developing the ASG-18 radar system.
He helped in perfecting techniques used in setting official world speed records. Logging 10,000 hours of flight time, he is the recipient of the Ivan Kincheloe award and the Blackbird Laurels Medallion. He also has been inducted into the Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame and the Aerospace Walk of Honor in Lancaster, CA.
Alfred Washington Ellet
General of the Civil War, born Oct. 11, 1820 in Penn’s Manor, Pennsylvania. Served with the Union Army as a volunteer, 1861-1864; most of this time spent in command of Mississippi Ram Brigade established through the efforts of his brother, Col. Charles Ellet, Jr. The brigade consisted of 9 riverboats converted into ironclad ramming vessels. This fleet was instrumental in the Union’s win in the Battle of Memphis, and the eventual control of the Mississippi river, leading to major victories over the Confederates.
After moving to El Dorado, KS after the war’s end, Gen. Ellet quickly became a leader in local business and civic affairs. He helped organized the Bank of El Dorado, which later became the Farmers & Merchants Bank; he also helped bring the Santa Fe railroad to El Dorado and established the Ellet Opera House.
Among recognitions received is a bronze bust of Gen. Ellet at the National Cemetery at Vicksburg. Also, the USS Ellet, a U.S. Navy destroyer, was commissioned in 1939 in honor of 5 officers of the Ellet family, including Gen. Ellet.
Robert Earl Forgy, Jr.
Robert Earl Forgy, Jr., retired admiral of the US Navy with 38 years of service, was born July 8, 1920 in Long Beach, California. Moving with his family to El Dorado, KS as a child, he also was a former owner and partner of the Lasting Furniture and Carpet Company in El Dorado.
A 1942 graduate of the University of Kansas, Forgy served with distinction during World War II as a bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he joined the Naval Reserve, attaining the rank of rear admiral, the highest rank for a Naval Reserve officer.
The former Naval aviator established a long-distance record in 1961 for a nonstop, un-refueled flight in a P2V Neptune aircraft, flown from Hawaii to Olathe, KS, a distance covering about 3,600 miles.
Among awards and medals Forgy received during his time of enlistment were the Legion of Merit medal, three air medals for battles fought in the Pacific, the Victory Medal, the Naval Reserve and Armed Forces Reserve Medals, and a unit citation for his wartime squadron.
Captain Wilbur “Jack” Thomas
Captain Wilbur “Jack” Thomas, El Dorado’s Marine Air Corps ace, was born Oct. 29, 1920. During World War II, he became nationally known as one of America’s heroes.
After attending local schools, Jack had just graduated from El Dorado’s Junior College in 1941 when he enlisted at the beginning of America’s involvement in the war.
Thomas served with the Marine Corps, becoming a top fighter pilot in the South Pacific. Called by a fellow flyer “one of the deadliest fighter pilots the Corps ever produced”, he scored most of his kills in a one-month period during the hotly contested landings on Rendova and Vangunu islands in mid-1944.
Captain Thomas survived the war but was killed on a routine flight when his plane crashed into a 4,200 ft. slope near Saddleback Mountain in California, on January 28, 1947, during a violent winter storm.
During his combat career, Thomas was awarded the Navy Cross and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. In 1985, the El Dorado Municipal Airport was renamed after Captain Thomas.
Reuben Aaron Waller
Buffalo Soldier and former slave Reuben Aaron Waller was born January 5, 1840 in Kentucky. Trained in the brewery trade, he and his father were “sold South” at the start of the Civil War to provide whiskey to the troops. He later served as body servant to a Confederate general, among those serving with Stonewall Jackson. He was present at Appomattox Courthouse as General Robert E. Lee surrendered his sword to General Ulysses S. Grant.
Following the war, Waller joined the U. S. Army as a member of the 10th Cavalry, one of the newly formed all-black regiments sent to fight in the Indian wars of the plains. These soldiers became known as Buffalo Soldiers.
Discharged after ten years of service, he came to Butler County to live, first settling in Fairview Township and later in El Dorado.
Living to the remarkable age of 105, Waller died on August 20, 1945 following an illness of only a few hours.