The namesake of Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Maria hasn’t been forgotten.
General Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg is just one of 524 military heroes profiled in a recently published book, In Their Honor: The Men Behind the Names of Our Military Installations. Vandenberg was also director of the Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. chief of military intelligence during World War II, and commanding general of the 9th Air Force.
In Their Honor is a collection of biographies that gives readers a glimpse into the lives of military heroes from privates to generals, aviation pioneers, prisoners of war, civilians, astronauts, and explorers and scientists who either gave their lives for our country or in some way made a major contribution to the nation.
The book is the result of six years of extensive research to find the story behind every man who ever had a military installation named in his honor. Author Linda D. Swink is an Air Force veteran.
The book is available from Little Miami Publishing at littlemiamibooks.com. A preview of the book is available at intheirhonor.info.
This article appears in Mar 18-25, 2010.