Neil Armstrong parachute was blown back over land. A jeep driven by a roommate from flight school picked him up; it is unknown what happened to the wreckage of his aircraft, F9F-2 BuNo "125122". In all, Armstrong flew 78 missions over Korea for a total of 121 hours in the air, a third of them in January 1952, with the final mission on March 5, 1952. Of 492 U.S. Navy personnel killed in the Korean War, 27 of them were from the "Essex" on this war cruise. Armstrong received the Air Medal for 20 combat missions, two gold stars for the next
Orland K. Armstrong with a bachelor's degree in education. Armstrong's first teaching position came at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Missouri, where he taught English and served as basketball coach. Southwest Baptist was a natural fit for Armstrong for it was his maternal grandfather, Reverend Daniel Preston, who was one of the college founders. With America's entry into World War I in April 1917 Armstrong took a leave of absence to serve in the U.S. Army. Assigned to the Army Signal Corps, he received pilot training and would serve as an instructor pilot for the duration of the war. While serving as an