Louis James Hector III was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on August 16, 1923, in a maternity hospital.  Growing up in this vibrant town, he excelled academically and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1941.  Eager to further his education, Louis took college preparatory classes and spent a year working as a laboratory assistant at his high school, diligently saving money for college.

When World War II was declared in December 1941, Louis felt a calling that was stronger than his academic ambitions. He enrolled at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where he prepared to serve his country. Although he was scheduled to graduate with the Class of 1946, many of his peers would not make it to that milestone, as they were called to serve in the military. At VMI, Louis became a private in Company C and proudly served in the Cavalry. Beyond his military training, he also embraced his passion for wrestling, a sport he had competed in during high school. 

Louis Hector joined the Army Air Force and was called to active duty in April 1943.  His journey began at Maxwell Field, Alabama, where he embarked on his training as an aviation cadet in single-engine flight school. After completing both his primary and secondary training in Missouri, he pressed on to advanced training at Craig Field in Selma, Alabama. It was here that he received his wings, earning the rank of second lieutenant in January 1944. He was checked out in the P-40N and attended aerial gunnery school at Eglin Field, Florida. He then underwent P-47 operational training in Richmond, Virginia. It was in Virginia where he became engaged to his future wife, Elma. 

Later that year, Louis boarded a train to San Francisco and then traveled to the South Pacific aboard the Matsonia, a cruise ship converted for wartime use. After making stops in Hawaii and Brisbane, the crew disembarked on the north shore of New Guinea at Dobadur. Pilots flew in C-47 transports to Port Moresby, and from there, Louis joined his squadron in Numfoor, an island off the coast of northern New Guinea. He was assigned to the 340th Fighter Squadron, 348th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force. In Numfoor, Louis flew a P-47 to bomb and strafe Japanese airfields on sparsely populated islands in Ceram.

When the American forces invaded the Philippines, Louis moved to an airbase in Tacloban, Leyte, where he flew dive bombing and strafing missions to various islands in the central Philippines, again flying P-47s. The squadron transitioned from P-47s to P-51Ds while moving from Leyte to Luzon. They also conducted several long missions to French Indochina, which involved four hours over the China Sea with wing tanks on the planes. From the Philippines, Louis moved to Ie Shima, a small island off the western coast of Okinawa, and flew missions to Kyushu and Honshu. 

During his service in the South Pacific, Louis Hector received three Air Medals and flew 137 combat missions and about the same number of non-combat missions. He returned to the U.S. in September 1945. 

Resuming his life as a civilian, Louis attended Cornell University and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1950. He subsequently joined the New Jersey Air National Guard and flew in the 340th Fighter Squadron at McGuire Field at Fort Dix and later the 348th Fighter Wing. During his time in the Air National Guard, Louis flew several planes: the P-51L, the P-51N, the F-84 straight wing, the F-86, the F-84 slant wing, and the F-100. He left the Air National Guard in 1958-59 as a Captain.

Louis worked at Curtiss Wright as a product engineer from 1950-1963, building weapons system trainers, and flight simulators, and managing the transition from analog to digital technology. On February 18, 1954, he married Elma Marina Craft, and they welcomed their daughter, Susan, in November 1954.

In August 1963, he relocated to Palos Verdes, just outside of Los Angeles, and began his work at Space Technology Laboratories (STL) in Redondo Beach. He contributed to the manufacturing of several classified satellites that were launched into orbit over central Russia. STL later became TRW, where he worked as a team member on the Lunar Module (LEM) communication system for the Apollo missions. This system was crucial in rescuing the astronauts during the Apollo XIII mission when other systems failed, an event that was later dramatized in a film.

While at TRW, he attended graduate school and earned a Master's Degree in Systems Management from USC. He retired from TRW in 1988 and relocated to San Diego with his wife in 1993.  

Link to the Collection's Finding Guide.

Link to the collection's images on Flickr.