1881 - 1926

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• Birth	15 Jan 1881	Washington,District of Columbia
  Gender	Male
  Died	27 Aug 1926
  Person ID	I121546	Brainard (Brainerd) / Foster / Fish
  Last Modified	05 Oct 2005 00:00:00
  Father	John Augustus ROGERS, b. 1848, Havre de Grace,Maryland
  Mother	Elizabeth B. CHAMBERS, b. 1859, Pittsburg,Allegheny Co.,Pennsylvania
  Family ID	F47282	Group Sheet
  Family	Ethel GREINER, b. 1885, Washington,District of Columbia
  Family ID	F47284	Group Sheet

• Notes

  Name Prefix: Commander 1 NOTE He was a pioneer in Naval Aviation and eventually became Chiefof the Navy Aeronautical Bureau, a position he held at thetimeof death in a plane crash in the Delaware River near thePhiladelphia NavyYard. Commander Rodgers was the hero of anunsuccessful flight from San Francisco to Hawaii in 1925. Hisseaplane came down in mid-ocean and he and his crew were rescuedafter keeping the plane afloat for more than 9 days. He graduatedfrom the United States Naval Academy in 1903 andwas assigned from sea to air duty in 1911, when he attended theflying school operated by the Wright Brothers.He was the secondNaval Officer is history to qualify as a Naval Aviator. Heestablished the Naval Air Station at San Diego, California. During World War I, he commanded Submarine Division 1 of theAtlantic Fleet. From 1798 until his death on August 26, 1926, there had beenmembers of his family with the name "JohnRodgers" activelyserving with the United States Navy.