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JOSEPH L. HONG
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From his early years a a scout in Derby, Joseph L. Hong Moo exhibited a keen interest in aviation. Here is an early photo from the Evening Sentinel:
He was born in Derby on Aug. 26, 1927 and grew up on Third Street. He graduated from Irving School and Derby High School (1945). He received his diploma in the uniform of the U.S. Army as he had been inducted in April prior to graduation. He served for 18 months and then went on to earn a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from New York University. He was also a member of R.O.T.C. while at NYU and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a result.
He worked for Hamilton-Standard for a year before entering the U.S. Air Force in 1953. He met his future wife Caryolyn Hong while stationed in Greenville, Mississippi and they were married in September, 1954. After a year's training as a navigator, he was assigned to Panama City for eight weeks of advanced training.
Tragedy struck on September 14, 1955 while he was flying a P33 jet
trainer along with pilot Hugo D. Cox on a radar target mission near the
Tyndall Air Force base.
Moo is the first member of the Derby Hall of Fame of Asian descent.
