Wade, Leigh, 1896-1991.

Major General Leigh Wade began his military career in 1916 when he enlisted in the National Guard for service on the Mexican border against Pancho Villa. He then became a cadet in the aviation section of the Signal Corps and received flight training from the Royal Canadian Air Force and in France. By 1919 he was a test pilot and was setting high altitude records. In 1924, Wade was chosen to pilot the "Boston", one of four Douglas "World Cruisers" attempting the first round-the-world flight which ended successfully after a 175 day mission. Leigh Wade joined the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation as Chief Test Pilot in 1926, then rejoined the military during World War II where he served in the Army Air Forces Intelligence section, commanded Batista Field, Cuba and later served with the 14th Air Force. After the war, he became Air Attaché to Greece in 1949 and to Brazil in 1952. He then served as Chief of the Air Section on the Joint Brazil-United States Military Commission until he retired in 1955. General Wade settled in Washington, D.C., and for the next ten years served as assistant to the chairman and chief executive officer of the Kemper Insurance Company. He retired in 1996 and lived until 1991 when he died of pneumonia.

Leigh Wade (b. 1896, Cassopolis, Mich.-d. Aug. 31, 1991), U.S. Air Force officer, enlisted in the National Guard in 1916, and a year later received his commission and pilot wings in the Aviation Section of the Officers' Reserve Corps. After a long period on inactive status (1926-1941), he returned to active duty and assigned to the Air Intelligence Section at Air Corps HQ. During World War II he served with the First Bomber Command and commanded Batista Field in Cuba. After the War, General Wade was air attaché in Athens, Greece and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He retired in 1955.