Meis, Joseph F.

Brigadier General Joseph F. Meis, retired from a distinguished military career as assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force. He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War.

Joseph Frank Meis, son of Heinrich Meis & Sophia Dorzweiler, was born 24 February 1922 in Hays, Kansas. He grew up in Sharon Springs, Kansas. He later studied at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the Federal Executive Institute at Charlottesville, Va. In 1940, Meis joined the Army. He served with the 157th Infantry and participated in assault landings at Sicily, Salerno and Anzio, Italy, and in southern France. He received a field commission of second lieutenant.

After the war, he moved to Denver and joined the Colorado Air National Guard. He was recalled as a lieutenant colonel during the Korean War and served in the Far East headquarters in Tokyo. He eventually retired from the military as a brigadier general and in 1968 joined the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations and Logistics. He served in various administrative positions and in 1981 retired as assistant secretary of the Air Force.