Osage, LLC’s Post

As we close out #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth, we honor Maj. Gen. Clarence L. Tinker, an Osage warrior, aviation trailblazer, and the namesake of #TinkerAirForceBase. Tinker was born near Pawhuska in 1887 to Sarah Anna Schwagerte and George Edward Tinker, publisher and founder of Pawhuska’s first newspaper, the Wah-Sha-She News. Clarence Tinker attended the Osage Indian Boarding School in Pawhuska and Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, before enrolling in Wentworth Military Academy at Lexington, Missouri, in 1906. Graduating in 1908, he was commissioned a third lieutenant in the Philippine Constabulary. Tinker's service with the constabulary lasted until 1912, when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. During World War I, Tinker rose to the rank of major. In 1919, he began flying lessons and transferred to the Air Corps. For the next twenty years, he was stationed primarily at air installations in the southeast United States, becoming a brigadier general on October 1, 1940. Promoted to major general in early 1942, he was placed in charge of the newly created Seventh Air Force at Hickam Field, Hawaii, leading four Liberator bombers on a raid to Wake Island on June 5, 1942. Leaving Midway Island on June 6, his plane crashed at sea, killing all on board. Clarence L. Tinker was the first American general to die in World War II, and his body was never recovered. He received the Soldier's Medal in 1931 and, posthumously, the Distinguished Service Medal. Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City is named in his honor. Osage LLC keeps the legacy of Maj. Gen. Tinker alive today by shaping the next frontier of aviation, from uncrewed aerial systems to advanced air mobility technologies at Skyway Range. From Clarence Tinker to today’s UAS and AAM breakthroughs, the Osage Nation has been, and remains at the forefront of aviation history. We are proud to celebrate Maj. Gen. Clarence Tinker and all the Osage aviation trailblazers he has inspired since and in the future! ✈️🚁 #NAHM #UAS #AAM #InnovationEconomy #WahzhazheAlways