The staff at Top Drawer lingerie
You got to hand it to those AFA Texans; they know how to recruit partners. Who would have thought that a lingerie firm would ever want to partner with the AFA? But the story goes much deeper into not just lingerie but into military aviation history.
Top Drawer Lingerie in Houston, Texas is an upscale lingerie store nestled in the famous Houston Galleria area whose clients include former president’s wives, lady astronauts, military wives and ladies with problems associated with breast cancer. It is not your run of the mill lingerie store which sometimes gets a sleazy reputation. Top Drawer Lingerie is the “go to” store in Houston and has been awarded the top lingerie firm in Houston several times over. They are often participants at local women’s talk shows for the valuable information they bring to properly fitting undergarments and good health for women.
But the story of Top Drawer Lingerie goes much deeper than undergarments for our ladies. It has roots in aviation history. The store is owned by Dow Hickam II and his son Dow Hickam III. Dow II always wanted to be an Air Force pilot but his eyesight prevented that. His family’s long military tradition instilled in him the desire to serve.
The “rest of the story” is that Dow’s ancestry includes Lt. Col Horace Meek Hickam, the man that Hickam AFB is named after. Over a century ago this man was the most ardent supporter of military aviation second only to General Benjamin Foulois, a military aviation pioneer.
The story of Lt. Col Hickam is unique in the annuls of military aviation history. A graduate of West Point, Hickam soon proved himself as a student of military aviation, flying off the quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston in Texas along with other student flyers like Benjamin Foulois. This was pre-world War 1 and the skills developed by these two men soon proved the worthiness of flyers in combat over Europe in World War 1.
After a distinguished career ranging from the Philippines to the Pentagon, Lt. Col. Hickam became the commander of the 3rd Attack Group stationed at Ft. Crockett on Galveston Island in 1932. His guys also ran the first mail routes over the central zone of the United States.
Hickam was a pilot’s pilot and the men in his unit loved him. He was destined to reach the highest offices and rank that military aviation had to offer at the time. His life was cut short in 1934 when practicing night landings on an unlighted runway at Ft. Crockett when his Curtiss A-12 Shrike hit an embankment and flipped over. The men of the 3rd Attacked Group along with his wife escorted the body to Washington where he was buried in Arlington Cemetery.
A grateful nation designated the flying field in Hawaii as Hickam Field in honor of his name. He was described as an irreplaceable leader and a matchless friend.
Thus we return to today knowing the full rich military history of this famous family. Little reason to wonder now why Top Drawer Lingerie assumes a prestigious position as one of our ardent Air Force Association Community Partners.
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