Joe Noah was born on March 1, 1928, in Greensboro, N.C. He soloed in a J-3 Cub in August 1944, and joined the U.S. Merchant Marines on June 12, 1945. Noah left the Maritime Service on Aug. 28, 1945, due to World War II ending, and then attended college for a year at North Carolina State College before enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps on Aug. 30, 1946, to qualify for the GI Bill. CPL Noah served as a rifleman and firefighter before leaving active duty on Aug. 13, 1948. He then completed his degree at North Carolina State, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force through the school's Air Force ROTC program on June 10, 1951. Lt. Noah served as an engineering officer on C-82 Packet transports with the 56th Troop Carrier Squadron at Donaldson AFB, S.C., from June 1951 to March 1952, and then based near San Angelo, Texas, for Operation Longhorn from March to April 1952. His next assignment was as a C-119 Flying Boxcar engineering officer with the 61st Troop Carrier Squadron at Ashiya AB, Japan, from June 1952 to January 1954, during which time he participated in missions during both the Korean War and the First Indochina War in Vietnam. Capt. Noah then completed an Air Force Institute of Technology assignment to Stanford University, where he earned his master's degree in June 1955. His final active duty assignment was at Griffiss AFB, N.Y., where he served as a procurement staff officer at the Rome Air Force Depot until joining the Air Force Reserve on June 9, 1958. Maj. Noah received an honorable discharge from the Air Force Reserve on May 10, 1967. After leaving active duty, Joe worked for the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, Calif., from 1958 to 1963, and then with other corporations doing the same work until 1970. He then ran his own company for another 13 years. Joe and his wife Betty founded the Preddy Memorial Foundation which helps to honor his cousins George and Bill Preddy, World War II fighter pilots who lost their lives in combat over Europe.