Lester Allen Wise was born June 27, 1922 and grew up on a farm in Midland, Michigan as an only child, son of Carry Addison Wise and Dora Ethel Sellers.

I, (his eldest child), don't know when he decided to be in the Air Force. He always said the Navy had the best food. He completed the academic program for pilots at Davidson College, North Carolina, then went on to flight school at Moody Field in Valdosta, Georgia in the class 44-D, where he met another Michigan kid, Kenneth Gerald Wolf, who became one of his best friends (and my godfather). My father almost got washed out of flight school because he bit his fingernails, but ultimately graduated as a pilot. His wings were pinned on by his best friend's (Kenneth Wolf's) sister, Marie, at the ceremony.

He flew to England via Labrador. He was stationed at Great Ashfield in the 385th Bomb Group, 548th Bomb Squadron, and got his Lucky Bastard certificate for flying 31 missions over Europe. He was at a rest home in Oxford when the war ended.

After World War II, he stayed in the Air Force Reserve, ultimately attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Intelligence. He went to Michigan State on the GI bill, became a chemical engineer, settled back in Midland, Michigan, working at Dow Chemical.

He had a wife, Frances Irene Schoch, and seven children Virginia, David, Thomas, Ruth, Paul, James and Mary. He died August 4, 1998. He did not like to talk about his war experiences, and I think he was both grateful and mystified that he survived, when so many others did not.

Service

Events

Event	Location	Date
Born	Midland, MI, USA	27 June 1922
Died	Torch Lake, Michigan, USA	4 August 1998
Lived in	Midland, MI, USA