John Koehler Gerhart

November 27, 1907 – January 9, 1981

John Koehler Gerhart, a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who headed the North American Air Defense Command in the 1960's, died Friday of a coronary thrombosis at Penrose Hospital near his home in Colorado Springs. He was 73 years old.

General Gerhart was appointed commander of air defenses for the United States and Canada, one of five top positions in the Air Force, in 1962. In his tenure, a command post for North American space and air defenses was built within Cheyenne Mountain, a 9,555-foot peak at the base of the Rocky Moutains, 10 miles south of Colorado Springs.

In World War II, General Gerhart served with the Eighth Air Force and participated in the first raid on a ball bearing plant in Schweinfurt, one of the earliest daylight bombing raids on Germany. He commanded the 95th Bomb Group and later became commander of the 93d Combat Bomb Wing, consisting of groups of B-17 Flying Fortresses.

He was born in Saginaw, Mich., on Nov. 27, 1907, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in 1929, a year after he graduated from the University of Chicago. He served at Mitchel Field on Long Island and was for several years a test pilot for powered aircraft and gliders.

New York Times

January 14, 1981, Section B, Page 4