American Astronaut. Although born in Chicago, he considered Honolulu, Hawaii, to be his hometown. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force upon graduation from the Air Force Academy, 1966. Over the next 14 years, he served as a USAF fighter pilot on assignments in the United States, Europe, and the Far East, including a 275 combat missions in the Republic of Vietnam. He rose to the rank of Colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with 13 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, and Purple Heart. He then came to work for NASA in January 1982 as an engineer and research pilot at the Johnson Space Center Houston and became an astronaut in June 1985. He held a variety of technical assignments, and had flown as a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-39 in 1991 and STS-52 in 1992. He had logged 436.3 hours in space. He worked as the lead astronaut for the development and operation of robotics for the International Space Station up until his death from cancer. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Family links:  Parents:  Marshall Edmond Veach (1911 – 2003)  Ellen Taylor Veach (1921 – 2001)