Colonel Joseph Kittinger, one of Central Florida's most distinguished local heroes, will speak at an event presented by the Orange County Regional History Center Tuesday, January 6, 2009. A 6:30 p.m. cocktail reception will be followed by a 7 p.m. program featuring first-hand accounts of Kittinger’s daring feats followed by a Q&A.
Tickets for this event cost $10 for Members of the Historical Society of Central Florida and $25 for non-members. Call (407) 836-7010 to R.S.V.P. by December 29, 2008. The presentation is recommended for adults and children ages 13 and up. For general information, call (407) 836-8500.Last April, Kittinger received the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement in Aviation Award, for his 1960 free-fall parachute jump from space. The moment is captured in a photograph (see above) featured in the book "In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits" and on display at the History Center in conjunction with the In Focus exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution.
Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., received his early education in Orlando, attended UF, then left in 1949 to enlist in the Air Force Aviation Cadet Program. He flew as a test pilot and participated in aerospace research to determine the feasibility of a manned space program. Kittinger flew 483 missions in Vietnam and in 1972 his plane was shot down. He was spent eleven months as a Prisoner of War at Hanoi at the same time as Senator John McCain.
Kittinger was awarded the Harmon Trophy for outstanding accomplishments in aeronautics by President Eisenhower in 1960. His military decorations include two silver stars, five distinguished flying crosses, 24 air medals, and 2 purple hearts. Having flown more than 16,800 hours in more than 93 types of aircraft, Kittinger was named to the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Florida Aviation Hall of Fame in 2003.