Nick Bruce, Cortney Radkay

Us History – Period 1

Corona

When Robert Kleinman was a young man of only four years old, he knew what he wanted to do with his life – He wanted to fly airplanes. At this very special age, the young lad was experimenting with paper airplanes, learning the laws of gravity and ultimately fueling his passion for flying. With age came evolution of this love: Robert bought a small-engine plane (which he ended up crashing). A smell step closer to his dream, none-the-less. When he enrolled in high school, Robert took the aeronautical course at Brooklyn Technical High School

On December 7^th, the fateful day of the Pearl Harbor bombing, Mr. Kleinman was out with his parents, watching a movie in Brooklyn, when he heard the news. Every radio and television came alive with the tragic news. Shortly after this announcement, Robert Kleinman volunteered, in hopes of joining the United States Air Force. Before he entered the service, Robert told his girlfriend that he would marry her when he returned. It was necessary for all pilots to have at least two years old college education (which Mr. Kleinman did not have, as he was only 18). In lieu of this, he took the entrance examination, which he passed and. He was accepted into the Aviation Cadet program, where the cadets were recognized as "privates" in the U.S. Army, Air Corps. With entry into the Air Force, Kleinman entered the "College Training Detachment". This operation aimed to raise the education level of the recruits by sending them to St. Vincents College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and subjecting them to three months of classes.

Kleinman was the first class to leave Latrobe. He went straight to something called "classification", which tested his mental and physical levels, in Nashville, Tennessee, which aloud him to get into the flying business. He entered the program as a navigator pilot in the Bombardier Program. He was then shipped to the first phase of pilot training called "Preflight" in Maxwell Field, Alabama, where he went to school everyday for ten weeks to learn the basics of flying. Through this phase he experienced his first flight. The next phase consisted of "Basic Flying" where he learned how to night fly and was given the privilege of flying a BT13 plane. The final phase of training was "Advanced Flying" which took place in Spence Field, Georgia, and wrapped up the flight training.

Robert finally graduated in February of 1944 and was transferred into 44B single engine advanced flying school, where he learned to fly fighters. He graduated as a pilot and was later commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant. Following this promotion, he went to schools for fighters, as well as the RTD (replacement Training Division) in June of 1944. There he garnered an additional 150 hours of flight time in the standard P40.

When his schooling finally complete, Kleinman was given the opportunity to take pat in a secret operation, After accepting the terms and agreements, he was put on a train and taken from Florida to New York. He was selected to combat on a contracted civilian airline, and was flown to England. In August of 44’, Robert was given the chance to fly a P51, where he gained 10 hours of flying practice. He was selected to enter the 479 Fighter Group and was stationed at Wattiasham. Their main mission: to support bombers so they could reach there target and deliver their payload, then bring them back home safely. A squadron of 16 planes completed this task (4 flights of 4 airplanes). Throughout World War II , he flew 301 combat hours, 61 missions (averaging 5 hours in length), from England to everywhere in Europe. On June 6^th, 1945, he returned to the United States, and was married on the 17^th.

As a result of his service to the United States, Robert received the Distinguished Flying Cross and ten air medals. After World War II, Robert was schooled in electronics. He entered the Korean War a week after it began and was stationed in Japan, where he flew combat missions all over Korea for the duration of the war. Robert returned home in June of 1955, his life in the field of battle coming to an end, but his life in the Space Program, just beginning.

After getting his masters in Science and Engineering he went to work for NASA as a part of their space program and was involved in a secret project known as "The Corona Project". He was also an Air Force inspector and was involved in numerous ballistics projects.

Robert Kleinman is a war veteran, a NASA engineer and a family man.