Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.
Decked out in blue flight suits with the well-known Thunderbird patch on their chests, members of the Air Force's aerial demonstration squadron joined with others at Nellis Air Force Base on Tuesday to remember Gen. Wilbur "Bill" Creech.
About 30 members of the 130-man Thunderbird squadron remembered the man credited with saving the Thunderbirds and took the time to shake hands with his widow, Carol Creech.
Gen. Creech, who headed up more than 111,300 military and civilian personnel as commander of Tactical Air Command from 1978 to 1984, died Aug. 26 at the age of 76 and will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Sept. 25.
Tuesday's memorial service at the Nellis chapel concluded with a 21-gun salute and a flyover by four F-16s in a missing man formation.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Ken Miles said that he knew Creech to be a leader who taught others how to lead.
"He led by example and demanded the best from his people and for his people," Miles said. "He saved the Thunderbirds after a tragic four-ship accident when everyone in the Department of Defense wanted to shut the program down."
Creech, a former Thunderbird, would not allow the Thunderbirds to be disbanded after a 1982 crash at Indian Springs that killed four pilots. The Thunderbirds were flying in their famous diamond formation when all four of the T-38 jets crashed to the ground.
Creech reformed the unit that has gone on to fly in thousands of aerial demonstration shows across the world.
Carol Creech remembered her husband Tuesday, saying she was lucky to be a part of his life.
"The motivation for his life was based on two things, personal pride and doing what he could to make others' lives better," Carol Creech said. "I was blessed with the best wingman anyone could ask for."
Bill Creech was born in 1927 in Argyle, Mo., and would spend more than 40 years in the Air Force. He flew 280 combat missions in the Korean and Vietnam wars and 524 aerial demonstration missions with the Thunderbirds and their European-based counterparts the Skyblazers.
Among Creech's many awards were the Distinguished Service Medal and a Silver Star.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Billy McCoy still refers to Creech as "the boss," and said the general was good at everything he set his mind to.
"Historians could argue that he was the most influential officer of our time," McCoy said. "He transformed tactical air command from a ragtag outfit to a world class force, and many of the systems that made victory seemingly easy in the Gulf War and the war in Iraq are due to the boss."
After retiring from the Air Force in 1984 Creech became a premier business management consultant and wrote a best-selling book, "The Five Pillars of TQM: How to Make Total Quality Management Work."
"Whatever field (Creech) would have entered he would have left an indelible mark," Las Vegas Sun Executive Editor and former Gov. Mike O'Callaghan said. "The Air Force was lucky to have him."
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