

Because of his family and his increasing concern about the safety of the airplanes he was flying, Roddenberry resigned from Pan American on to write full-time. Roddenberry led the rescue effort and received a commendation from the Civil Aeronautics Board for his bravery. The Pan American Clipper he had boarded as a passenger lost two of its four engines and crash-landed in the Syrian Desert on 18 June 1947, killing fourteen people. In June 1947, while returning from Calcutta, Roddenberry was involved in a terrible plane crash in the Syrian Desert. Roddenberry routinely piloted flights from New York to Johannesburg, South Africa, and Calcutta, India.

He also took writing courses at the University of Miami and Columbia University. Roddenberry became a commercial pilot for Pan American World Airways and moved to River Edge, New Jersey, in 1946. After the war Roddenberry and his wife moved to Jamaica on Long Island, New York. While still in the military he began to submit his writing to periodicals for publication. Serving in the South Pacific as a second lieutenant, he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. Roddenberry flew a B-17 Flying Fortress on eighty-nine missions, including a stint on the sweltering island of Guadalcanal in 1942. Roddenberry received his officer’s commission on 5 August 1942, and one month later he headed to Hawaii for his first military assignment. On 20 June 1942, while he was stationed at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, Roddenberry married Eileen Rexroat, whom he had met while attending LACC. On 18 December 1941, less than two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Roddenberry reported for duty. He received his pilot’s license on 17 September 1940 and his associate of arts degree from LACC on 26 June 1941. Army initiative to recruit pilots in anticipation of World War II. In his second year at LACC, Roddenberry joined the Civilian Pilot Program, a U.S. He studied the police curriculum and served as the president of the LACC Police Club. Because the employment prospects in El Paso were limited, the Roddenberrys moved to California in 1923, and Roddenberry’s father became an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in July 1923.Īfter graduating from Franklin High School in Los Angeles in the winter of 1939, Roddenberry enrolled at Los Angeles City College (LACC) in February 1939. Roddenberry was the oldest of three children born to Eugene Edward Roddenberry, a lineman for a local electric company, and Caroline Glen Golemon, a telephone operator. 24 October 1991 in Santa Monica, California), writer and producer who created the Star Trek television and film series.
