Ohio Museum Hosts Thomas D. Jones

Jones' presentation is based on the book Hell Hawks!, which he co-authored with Robert F. Dorr. Hell Hawks! is the true story of an aerial band of brothers flying the deadly P-47 Thunderbolt, fighting a gritty war in support of American GIs in World War II Europe. These young airmen were ordinary young Americans, thrust into a crucial Allied effort to employ airpower to break the front-line German armies. At the tip of this aerial spear were pilots and ground crews who worked and lived amid the cold and mud of their front-line airfields in conditions not much better than those of the GIs they supported each day. Jones will sign copies of the book after the lecture.

Jones is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He piloted B-52D strategic bombers, studied asteroids for NASA, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA, and helped develop advanced mission concepts to explore the solar system prior to joining NASA's astronaut corps.

His awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, four NASA Space Flight Medals, the NASA Exceptional Service Award, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, Phi Beta Kappa, and the Air Force Commendation Medal. King's College of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2007.

Jones is a member of the NASA Advisory Council, serves on the board of the Association of Space Explorers, and is a regular on-air contributor for Fox News Channel's spaceflight coverage. He is currently active in the debate over our nation's space exploration policy. -- www.nationalmuseum.af.mi