John M. Schweizer Jr.; Retired Air Force Brigadier General, Executive

John Mel Schweizer Jr., 89, retired Air Force brigadier general who moved from pilot to executive in military intelligence and then in commercial aviation. A native of Los Angeles, Schweizer studied at Occidental College, where he was quarterback of the football team and lead trumpet for the Earl Bernett Orchestra. As a pilot in the Army Air Corps in the 1930s, he trained Nationalist Chinese military pilots. He worked as a commercial pilot for American Airlines and Humble Oil until he was recalled to active duty in World War II. After becoming a brigadier general in 1953, Schweizer served as Air Force director of intelligence in Europe and later as director of intelligence for the Allied powers in Europe. He was honored for his service by the United States, France, Italy and Greece. Schweizer retired from the Air Force in 1959 to become the European representative for Bell Aerosystems Corp. in Paris and later Bell vice president in Los Angeles. In 1971, he became executive director of the Voices in Vital America supporting the recovery of MIAs and POWs in Vietnam. On Monday in Camarillo of lung cancer.