Born on January 21, 1926, in Los Angeles, CA., the second son of Max Mayer and Hazel Levinson, Lou was raised in San Francisco and attended Washington High School. Five months short of graduation, having just turned 18-years of age, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and entered active duty on February 15, 1944, at Monterey, CA. He served with the 12th Air Force (97th Bombardment Squadron, 47th Bombardment Group) as a gunner in both A-20 and A-26 aircraft, flying out of Gricetto and Pisa, Italy. In 1945, he participated in 28 night missions flying over Northern Italy, and earned various theater and unit awards included two Air Medals. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant on December 10, 1945, while stationed in North Carolina.Â
He returned to San Francisco, and finished high school, worked briefly as a mechanic for United Airlines, and then used the GI Bill to attend and graduate in 1951 from the University of San Francisco in Accounting, with a commission as well from the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. He later earned an MBA from Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, CO.
He served in Korea in 1952, assigned to the 90th Field Artillery Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. Because of his aviation background, he was a forward air controller, until 1966, resigning from the Army as a major. His numerous Army assignments included four-years assigned to the Air Force, stationed with his family in Germany, and flying over 1000 hours in F-100 Super Sabre jet aircraft, where his expertise was used to target nuclear strikes in cold war Europe.
Lou joined Lockheed Missiles & Space Company in September, 1966, and except for a brief stint with United Technologies, spent the rest of his working career in management with Lockheed in Sunnyvale, CA (SFChronicle).
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