James D. Ramage

James D. Jig Dog Ramage was a naval aviator in World War II and a major factor in putting nuclearcapable aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.

James David Ramage was born in Waterloo, Iowa, onJuly 1916, the son of David S. and Flora Groat Ramage. He had an older halfsister Mary from his mothers first marriage, and a younger sister, Betty. His father was a machinist by trade, who arrived in Waterloo as a salesman. He became a farmer, but lost the farm during the Great Depression. He then worked at the Waterloo Trust and Savings Bank until it failed, and then ran a Maxwell and Chalmers car dealership. Ramage was educated in Waterloo at Francis Grout, McKinley School and finally East Waterloo High. In 1934, he entered Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa. That year, he was nominated for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, by the local U.S. Representative, John W. Gwynne, as an alternative candidate. The 1934 VinsonTrammell Act created additional vacancies at the Academy, and Ramage was appointed.

Source: Wikipedia