Don Davis Flickinger (26 November 1907 – 23 February 1997) was a military flight surgeon and pioneer in aerospace medicine who retired from the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

as a

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. Flickinger was born in

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

on 26 November 1907 and graduated from

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

in 1925. He then attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, graduating with an A.B. in 1929. Flickinger received his medical degree from the Stanford School of Medicine in 1933. He completed his medical training at the

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is a graduate medical school of Vanderbilt University located in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center on the southeastern side of the Vanderbilt University campus, the ...

in 1934 and was then commissioned as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. From July to November 1937, Flickinger trained as a flight surgeon at

Randolph Field Randolph Air Force Base was an United States Air Force base located at Universal City, Texas ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the Uni ...

Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

. As an expert in the

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

of high altitude flight, Flickinger accompanied a squadron of nine

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

bombers from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in September 1941. He was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After returning from the Philippines to Hawaii in November 1941, Flickinger was medical officer of the day for

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

during the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese attack on 7 December 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Flickinger became a pioneer in

pararescue Pararescuemen (also known as PJs) are United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Air Combat Command (ACC) operators tasked with recovery and medical treatment of personnel in humanitarian and combat environments. These speci ...

in the

China Burma India Theater China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officia ...

, parachuting into rough terrain to aid downed flyers and then helping them hike to safety. His most famous rescue mission was widely publicized by one of the survivors of the August 1943 crash of a

C-46 The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

transport in Burma,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

radio correspondent

Eric Sevareid Arnold Eric Sevareid (November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992) was an American author and CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents who were hired by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and nicknamed " Murrow's ...

. From November 1945 to December 1946, Flickinger was professor of air science and tactics at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

while also completing a graduate course in

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

there. In 1947, Flickinger was made director of research at the

School of Aviation Medicine The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) is the United States Air Force (USAF) organization focused on education, research, and operational consultation in aerospace and operational medicine. USAFSAM was founded in 1918 t ...

. In February 1953, he was appointed director of research for the

Air Research and Development Command The Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command. It was established in April 1951, being split off from Air Materiel Command. The mission of AFSC was Research and Development for new weapons systems. Ove ...

. On 11 October 1954, Frickinger was frocked as a

. In August 1955, Flickinger became the first commander of the

Air Force Office of Scientific Research The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...

. From January 1956 to June 1957, he served as head of the European Office of the Air Research and Development Command in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In July 1957, Flickinger returned to Air Research and Development Command headquarters at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

where he served as director of life sciences. In May 1958, Flickinger was also made special assistant to the commander of the

Air Force Ballistic Missile Division Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's research and development, space development, Military acquisition, acquisition, space launch, launch, and Military logistics, logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los An ...

for bioastronautics. In November 1958, he became assistant to the commander of the Air Research and Development Command for bioastronautics. Flickinger retired on 1 August 1961 and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

. On 1 October 1958, Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace II was appointed chairman of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Special Committee on Life Sciences and Brig. Gen. Flickinger was appointed vice chairman. The committee provided guidance on the medical testing requirements for potential

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

astronauts. Flickinger also provided guidance on the selection of

Project Gemini Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...

astronauts. In the early 1960s, Lovelace and Flickinger also supervised the physical testing of female pilots as potential astronauts. Some of these women were later referred to as the

Mercury 13 The Mercury 13 were thirteen American women who took part in a privately funded program run by William Randolph Lovelace II aiming to test and screen women for spaceflight. The participants—First Lady Astronaut Trainees (or FLATs) as Jerrie C ...

. Flickinger died on 23 February 1997 at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

. His name was incorrectly reported as "Donald" in some subsequent obituaries. Flickinger was interred at

Mount Tamalpais Cemetery Mount Tamalpais Cemetery is located in San Rafael, California. History The cemetery was founded by Dr. Henry A. Dubois, Jr. An ordinance was passed that prohibited any burials within the towns limits. Dr DuBois attended a town hall meeting whe ...

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Raphael (archangel), St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), ...

along with his third wife Marilyn Kelso Flickinger. He had a son, daughter and two grandsons from his two previous marriages, which had both ended in divorce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flickinger, Don Davis 1907 births 1997 deaths Los Angeles High School alumni Stanford University alumni Stanford University School of Medicine alumni United States Air Force Medical Corps officers Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Harvard Medical School faculty Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Air Force generals Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal NASA people