Malcolm Cummings Grow
Major General, U.S. Air Force

Malcolm Cummings Grow was born on 19 November 1887 in Philadelphia, PA.

He attended Jefferson Medical College, graduating in 1909. He served in the Russian Army for 18 months during WWI starting in November 1915. During that time he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Imperial Russian Army Medical Corps and was awarded the Cross of St. George.

In 1917, he fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and joined the American war effort. His WWI journals were published in 1918 as Surgeon Grow: An American in the Russian Fighting. He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII and earned many awards for research that led to better body armor, electrically heated clothing, wind and fire resistant head and neck protectors, and several other developments that drastically reduced casualties among flight crews.

He was appointed the first Surgeon General of the U.S. Air Force when the Air Force established a medical service. He served in that post from 1 July 1949 until his retirement on 30 November of that year.

Honors

Malcolm Grow Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base and the U.S. Air Force's Flight Surgeon of the Year award are named in his honor.

Death and Burial

Major General Malcolm Cummings Grow died on 20 October 1960. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.