"When Gen. Bernard A. Schriever retired, he left behind a new kind of Air Force, far different than the one which he entered thirty-three years before. Today, the Air Force's ballistic missiles and its communications and detection satellites provide the nation with an aerospace capability second to none and help guarantee peace. These systems are living testimony to his leadership of the ballistic missile and space programs and mark him as "the Father of the U.S. Air Force's Space Program." Gen. Bernard A. Schriever truly typifies a breed of American who engenders progress and has the imagination, courage, and persistence to face and resolve complex and difficult problems."