Lieutenant General Donald Leander Putt was born in Sugarcreek, Ohio, on May 14, 1905, graduated from Sugarcreek-Shanesville High School in 1923, earned electrical and aeronautical engineering degrees, entered the U.S. Army and then the Air Corps, and advanced through engineering, test pilot, and research posts at places including Wright Field. He worked on the development of major multi-engine aircraft including the B-17, B-24, B-29, and B-36, rose to Colonel in 1944, served in Europe near the end of World War II as commanding officer of the Herman Goering Aeronautical Research Center near Brunswick, Germany, directed the interrogation of German scientists, and later recruited more than 160 German scientists to work for the U.S. Government at Wright Field. After the war he held key intelligence and engineering assignments, became Director of Research and Development at USAF headquarters, served as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, then as Vice Commander and Commander of the Air Research and Development Command from 1952 to 1958, and achieved three-star rank in 1953. After retiring from the Air Force after 30 years, he was recruited by United Aircraft Corporation to start a company in San Jose, California, developing segmented solid rocket engines; that company later became known as United Technology Center/Chemical Systems Division and produced the world’s first segmented solid rocket engine, used to help launch the Viking and Voyager spacecraft as part of the Titan III rocket. His career spanned the era of aviation from biplanes to space exploration. Putt married Margaret Yent in 1933, their son William D. was born in 1937, and he died in Menlo Park, California, on Nov. 4, 1988, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In Sugarcreek, a community effort in 1992 created a memorial on property once owned by the Putt family, supported by local organizations, private donors, and volunteers, and featuring donated bricks, a brick sculpture of his visage, a bronze plaque, and a replica segmented solid rocket engine donated by the company he founded.