Sam Dyke was born on October 3, 1921, in Moultrie, Georgia. He enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces on October 7, 1942, and was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings at Napier Field, Alabama, on August 30, 1943. After completing P-47 Thunderbolt training, Lt Dyke was assigned to the 328th Fighter Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group in England in November 1943. He completed 80 combat missions in the P-47 and the P-51 Mustang between December 1943 and September 1944, and was credited with the destruction of 1 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, plus 3.5 more on the ground while strafing enemy airfields. After returning to the United States, Lt Dyke served as an instructor pilot with the 341st Basue Unit at Pinellas Field, Florida, from November 1944 to October 1945, followed by service as a ferry pilot and assistant base operations officer with the 302nd Base Unit at Hunter Field, Georgia, from October 1945 to March 1946. His next assignment was as an instructor pilot with the 308th Army Air Force Base Unit at Tyndall Field, Florida, from March 1946 to November 1947, and then as a recruiting officer at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, from November 1947 to April 1948. He served as an Aide-de-Camp to the Commanding General of the 7th Air Division and then the Commander of Pacific Air Command at Hickam AFB from May 1948 to October 1949, followed by service with the 1500th Air Base Group at Hickam from October 1949 to November 1950. Capt Dyke next served on the staff of Headquarters Pacific Command of the Military Air Transport Service at Hickam AFB from November 1950 to October 1951, and then on the staff of Headquarters Military Air Transport Service at the Pentagon from October 1951 to January 1955. After completing Portuguese language training, Maj Dyke served as Chief of the Operations Unit of the Joint Brazil-United States Military Commission in Brazil from September 1955 to March 1957. His next assignment was as a KC-97 and then as a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot with the 70th Air Refueling Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, from March 1957 to August 1965, followed by service as Commander of the 46th Air Refueling Squadron at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan, from August 1965 to January 1966. Col Dyke next served as Deputy Commander for Maintenance of the 410th Bomb Wing at K.I. Sawyer AFB from February 1966 to April 1968, and then as Vice Commander of the 410th Bomb Wing from April 1968 to April 1969. He then served as Commander of the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell AFB, Texas, from April 1969 to April 1970, during which time he deployed with the Wing to Anderson AFB, Guam, and flew 21 B-52 Stratofortress combat missions in support of combat operations in Southeast Asia from September 1969 to February 1970. Col Dyke's final assignment was as Commander of the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, from May 1970 until his retirement from the Air Force on July 1, 1972. Sam Dyke died on November 27, 2004, and was buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Cairo, Georgia.