Edward Higgins White

Edward Higgins Ed White II , , was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. On June 3, 1965, he became the first American to walk in space. White died along with his fellow astronauts Virgil Gus Grissom and Roger B. Chaffee during prelaunch testing for the first manned Apollo mission at Cape Canaveral. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal for his flight in Geminiand then awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously.

White was born on November 14, 1930, in San Antonio, Texas, to parents Edward H. White, Sr. , who became a Major General in the U.S. Air Force, and Mary Rosina White . He attended school in his hometown and became a member of the Boy Scouts of America, where he earned the rank of Second Class Scout. After graduation from high school in 1948, he was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where in 1952 he earned his Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. Then, he attended flight school, a course that takes just over a year. Following graduation from flight school, White was assigned to the 22nd Fighter Day Squadron at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany. He spent three and a half years in West Germany flying in F86 Sabre and F100 Super Sabre squadrons in the defense of NATO.

Source: Wikipedia