Hawthorne C. Gray

Hawthorne Charles Gray was a captain in the United States Army Air Corps. On November 4, 1927, he succeeded in setting a new altitude record in a silk, rubberized, and aluminumcoated balloon launched from Scott Field near Belleville, Illinois, reaching 42,470160ft , but died during his descent after his oxygen supply became depleted. The record was recognized by the National Aeronautical Association, but not by the Fdration Aronautique Internationale because the dead aeronaut was not in personal possession of his instruments. Gray was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his three ascents on March 9, Mayand November 4.

Gray was born on February 16, 1889 in Pasco, Washington. He was the son of William Polk Gray , a prominent steamboat captain in the Northwestern United States, and Oceana Falkland Bush. Hawthorne Gray was a graduate of the University of Idaho.

Source: Wikipedia