Joseph Jacob Foss of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary actions on October 9, 1942, over Guadalcanal. Foss was a private in the 147th Field Artillery Regiment, Sioux Falls, South Dakota National Guard, from 1939 to 1940. By 1940, Foss enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserves to join the Naval Aviation Cadet program. After being designated a Naval Aviator, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. On October 9, 1942, Foss and his group were launched off the USS Copahee escort carrier and flew 350 miles to reach Guadalcanal. Foss soon gained a reputation for aggressive fighter tactics and uncanny gunnery skills. He shot down a Japanese plane on his first combat mission, and in the several months of sustained combat, Foss had shot down a total of 26 enemy aircraft. Having matched the record of 26 kills held by America’s top World War I ace, Eddie Rickenbacker, Foss was accorded the honor of becoming America’s first “ace-of-aces” in World War II. During the Korean War, Foss, then a Colonel, was called to active duty with the United States Air Force, relinquishing command of the 175th Squadron, and served as a Director of Operations and Training for the Central Air Defense Command; he eventually reached the rank of Brigadier General. In 1955, Foss became the youngest governor of South Dakota at age 39. In 1959, he became the first Commissioner of the American Football League. He stepped aside as commissioner in April 1966, two months before the historic agreement that led to the merger of the AFL and NFL and the creation of the Super Bowl. He was also inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1984. In 1988, Foss was elected to two consecutive one-year terms as president of the National Rifle Association of America. Foss suffered a stroke in October 2002 and died three months later on New Year’s Day, 2003. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. #WeRememberThem