An Airman's Story: Brigadier General Harrison Reed Thyng
Brigadier General Harrison Reed Thyng was born on April 12, 1918, in Laconia New Hampshire. His early education was in a rural, one-room, schoolhouse. In the eighth grade, he transferred to Pittsfield High School and played football, baseball, and ran track for the high school team. Brigadier General Thyng was also known for pranks and once faced academic censor after he hit a school superintendent with a snowball. He graduated in 1935, as the school valedictorian. He went on to the University of New Hampshire, where he studied pre-law and was an ROTC cadet. His first flight was during college, in 1938 when Brigadier General Thyng took his wife (girlfriend at the time) on a date from Logan Airport to the game at Fenway Park. Brigadier General Thyng graduated from the university in 1939 and enlisted in the US Army Air Corps as an air cadet immediately. He earned his pilot's wings in March 1940. Brigadier General Harrison Thyng's first World War II depl...