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GENERAL JEROME O'MALLEY
General O’Malley was destined to be the Air Force Chief of Staff or Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs. Sadly, he and his wife Diane were tragically killed in a
plane crash on April 20th, 1985 while traveling to Scranton, PA to speak to a
group 
of
Boy Scouts at the request of a local Congressman. To many in the Air force they
were General and Mrs. O’Malley and to many others they were very specially
Jerry and Diane. Carbondale has played a pivotal role in supporting our
nation’s military since its formation in the early 1850’s, so it was only
natural that Carbondale would initiate the formation of a museum honoring one of
its most highly ranked and most significant citizens ever - General Jerome F
“Jerry” O’Malley. It was an honor for the SR-71 and A-12 Blackbird
organizations to play a large role in making the dreams of Carbondale’s
citizens and the family of General and Mrs. O’Malley come true this past
month.
General O’Malley’s star started to soar when he piloted the
1ST operational flight of the SR-71 Blackbird for which he was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross.
His career was a most distinguished one, having attained 4 star rank and serving
as Commander of the most coveted position in the Air Force for pilots, the
Tactical Air Command, a command consisting of up to 115,000 personnel, including
the Air Force Thunderbirds. General O’Malley was 
destined
to be the Air Force Chief of Staff or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at
the time of his death while doing something he had done all of his life -
returning to his home area, an area he loved deeply, to speak to veterans’
groups, participate in parades and speaking engagements, or just meet with
family and hometown friends whom he never forgot. For these reasons, and for
those accomplishments that are listed on the accompanying pages, it was
imperative that this man’s legacy of greatness be preserved in his hometown as
it has at military 
locations
both home and abroad.
The memorial dedicated in May will help preserve Carbondale’s
heritage while educating their youth and townspeople about the most highly
decorated Airman 
in
their city’s history. Carbondale remains a small but proud community whose
people have valiantly served our nation in all branches of service throughout
our city’s history. Jerry O’Malley, educated in local schools, epitomized
our city’s youth as he decided early on that a military career was what he
wanted. They could have not picked a better person for this honor than General
O’Malley, who is remembered throughout our nation as one of the Air Force’s
greatest leaders ever.
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| PHOTOS OF DEDICATION CEREMONY |
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