Editing Frank Borman (section)

== Early life and education ==
Frank Frederick Borman II was born on March 14, 1928, at 2162 West 11th Avenue in [[Gary, Indiana]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978804/the_times/ |title=What Borman Highway? |newspaper=The Times |location=Munster, Indiana |date=July 10, 1969 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=January 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108100839/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26978804/the_times/ |archive-date=January 8, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> the only child of Edwin Otto Borman (1901–1994), who owned an [[Oldsmobile]] car dealership there, and his wife Marjorie Ann Borman ([[née]] Pearce; 1903–1989), who named him after his paternal grandfather. He was of [[German Americans|German]] descent.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}} His great-grandfather Christopher Borman immigrated from Germany in the late 19th century and worked as a tuba player in a traveling circus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pete |first=Joseph |date=2023-11-10 |title=Late astronaut Frank Borman, a Gary native, took Region to new heights |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/late-astronaut-frank-borman-a-gary-native-took-region-to-new-heights/article_6935a1c6-7f7f-11ee-994c-77c74592d160.html |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=nwitimes.com |language=en}}</ref> Because he suffered from numerous [[Maxillary sinus|sinus]] and [[Mastoid cells|mastoid]] problems in the cold and damp weather, his family moved to the better climate of [[Tucson, Arizona]], which Borman considered his hometown. His father bought a lease on a [[Mobil]] service station.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}}

Borman attended Sam Hughes Elementary School in Tucson, where he played soccer and baseball. He then went to Mansfeld Junior High School, where he tried out for the [[American football|football]] team. He was not good enough, so he formed his own team with some local boys, sponsored by a local jewelry store. He earned some money with a newspaper route, delivering copies of the ''[[Arizona Daily Star]]''.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}}

After Mansfeld, Borman went on to [[Tucson High Magnet School|Tucson High School]], where he was an honor student. He played [[quarterback]] on the [[junior varsity team]], and then became the second-string quarterback on the [[Varsity team#Junior varsity|varsity team]]. The first-string quarterback broke his arm during the first game, and was out for most of the season. Although every one of the four [[forward pass]]es he attempted that year was [[incomplete pass|incomplete]], the team went on to win the state championship. He also started dating Susan Bugbee, a [[sophomore]] at his school.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=20–23}}<ref name="Daily Citizen">{{cite news |title=Frank Borman now at U.S. Military Academy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35486008/ |access-date=September 1, 2019 |newspaper=Tucson Daily Citizen |location=Tucson, Arizona |date=July 3, 1946 |page=12 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901075837/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35486008// |archive-date=September 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the United States entered [[World War II]] in 1941, his parents found work at a new [[Convair|Consolidated Vultee]] aircraft factory in Tucson.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}} His first ride in an airplane had been when he was five years old.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=13–15}} He learned to fly at the age of 15,<ref name="nmmuseum">{{cite web |url=http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=60 |title=Commanded Apollo 8, first mission to circumnavigate the Moon |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Space History |access-date=December 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912131045/http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=60 |archive-date=September 12, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> taking lessons with a female instructor, Bobbie Kroll, at Gilpin Field. When he obtained his student pilot certificate, he joined a local flying club.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=19–20}} He also built model airplanes out of [[Ochroma|balsa wood]].{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=24–25}}

[[File:Frank Borman as a West Point cadet.png|thumb|right|upright|As a West Point cadet]]
Borman was helping a friend build model planes, when his friend's father asked him about his plans for the future. Borman told him that he wanted to go to college and study [[Aerospace engineering|aeronautical engineering]], but his parents did not have the money to send him to an out-of-state university, and neither the [[University of Arizona]] nor [[Arizona State University]] offered top-notch courses in aeronautical engineering at that time. His football skills were insufficient to secure an athletic scholarship, and he lacked the political connections to secure an appointment to the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York|West Point]]. He therefore planned to join the Army, which would allow him to qualify for free college tuition under the [[G.I. Bill]].{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=24–25}}

His friend's father told him that he knew [[Richard F. Harless]], the [[Member of congress|congressman]] who represented [[Arizona]]. Harless already had a principal nominee for West Point, but Borman's friend's father convinced Harless to list Borman as a third alternative. Borman took the West Point entrance examination, but since his chances of a West Point appointment were slim, he also took the Army physical, and passed both. But the end of the war had changed attitudes towards joining the military, and the three nominees ahead of him all dropped out. Instead of reporting to [[Fort MacArthur]] on graduation from high school, he went to West Point.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=24–25}}<ref name="Daily Citizen" />

Borman entered West Point on July 1, 1946, with the Class of 1950.{{sfn|Cullum|1950|p=1572}} It was a difficult year to enter. Many members of the class were older than he, and had seen active service in World War II. [[Hazing]] by the upperclassmen was common. Another challenge was learning how to swim. He tried out for the plebe football team; his skills were insufficient, but head coach [[Earl Blaik]] took him on as an assistant manager.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=27–30}} In his final year, Borman was a cadet captain, commanding his company, and manager of the varsity football team.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=35–36}}

Borman chose to be commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] in the [[United States Air Force]] (USAF) on June 2, 1950.{{sfn|Cullum|1950|p=1572}} Before the [[United States Air Force Academy]] was built, the USAF was authorized to accept up to a quarter of each West Point graduating class.{{sfn|Mitchell|1996|pp=60–61}} So that USAF officers graduating from West Point had equal seniority with those graduating from the [[United States Naval Academy]], the entire class was commissioned four days ahead of their graduation. Borman graduated with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree on June 6, 1950, ranked eighth in his class of 670.{{sfn|Cullum|1950|p=1572}}

Borman drove back to Tucson with his parents in his brand-new [[Oldsmobile 88]] for the traditional sixty-day furlough after graduation. He had split up with Susan while he was at West Point, but had since reconsidered. She had earned a dental hygiene degree at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], and was planning to commence a liberal arts degree at the University of Arizona. He persuaded her to see him again, and proposed to her. She accepted, and they were married on July 20, 1950, at [[St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church]] in Tucson.{{sfn|Borman|Serling|1988|pp=37–39}}