Randy "Duke' Cunningham was born in Los Angeles in 1941 and moved with his parents and younger brother to Shelbina, Missouri, when he was 12 years old. His parents bought a small store in Shelbina and that's where his father worked.  The boys attended elementary and high school in the town of a population of about 2,000.  Randy went on to attend the University of Missouri and graduated with a bacherlor's and master's degree in education.  He later coached at Hinsdale High School outside of Chicago. In the late 1960s he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became a fighter pilot.  He served in the Vietnam War, and was aboard the USS American and the USS Constellation.  He flew 300 combat missions over North Vietnam and Laos.  In one day, during a mission south of Hanoi, he shot down three of 22 MiGs -- adding to the two prior MiGs he shot down -- for an overall total of five strikes.  This qualified Cunningham as the first "ace" in Vietnam -- something that only one other person did during that war.  The Naval Aviator has received the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, 15 Air Medals, three Navy Commendation medals, the Purple Heart, a Presidential Unit Citation, a Navy Unit Commendation Medal, a South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and Cross of Gallantry Oak Leaf.   He retired from the military in 1987 and then was a Dean of the School of Aviation at National University in San Diego.  After receiving a call from then- President Ronald Reagan who requested him to run for Congress, he was elected in 1990 to the House of Representatives.  While in Congress he served on the House Appropriations Committee and the National Security Subcommittee.  He served until his resignation in 2005.

(Photos courtesy of Cunningham's personal collection/Sosa)