Robert F. Travis

Brigadier General Robert Falligant Travis (26 December 1904 – 5 August 1950) was a United States Army Air Forces general during World War II.

A 1928 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, Travis saw action as commander of the Eighth Air Force's 41st Combat Bombardment Wing, based at RAF Molesworth in England. He personally led 35 combat missions over Nazi-occupied Europe, including a costly raid on a fighter plant in Oschersleben, Germany, on 11 January 1944, for which the wing received a Distinguished Unit Citation. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star with two oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with three oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart.

Travis was killed in the crash of a B-29 Superfortress at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base near Fairfield, California. The base was named for him the following year.

Early career

Robert Falligant Travis was born in Savannah, Georgia, on 26 December 1904, the son of Robert Jessie Travis, a lawyer who reached the rank of major general in the Georgia National Guard, and his wife Rena Falligant. He had a younger brother, William Livingston, and two sisters, Rena and Cecilia.

Travis entered the University of Georgia in Athens in 1924, but received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York,

The plane broke up on landing, and burst into flames. All ten people in the rear compartment died in the crash, but eight of the ten in the nose section, which broke off, escaped. Travis was pulled alive from the wreckage but died on his way to hospital.

The 19 bodies were taken to the McCune Garden Chapel in Vacaville. Travis was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on 16 August 1950. He was survived by his wife, Jane Frances Travis, who was interred with him after she died on 22 November 1987, and his four children: Jayne, Robert, John and Roger. Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base was officially renamed Travis Air Force Base in his honor on 20 October 1950. A formal renaming ceremony was held on 20 April 1951, presided over by the Governor of California, Earl Warren, which was attended by Travis' family.

Awards and decorations

Distinguished Service Cross Silver Star with two oak leaf clusters Dates of rank