The Right Stuff

William "Bill" Conti is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony. Conti, an Italian American,... was born in Providence, Rhode Island, the son of Lucetta and William Conti. He graduated from North Miami High School in 1959. He is a past winner of the Silver Knight Award presented by the Miami Herald. He is a graduate of Louisiana State University, and also studied at the Juilliard School of Music. His big break into celebrity came in 1976, when he was hired to compose the music for a small United Artists film called Rocky. The film became a phenomenon, and Conti's training montage tune, "Gonna Fly Now" topped the Billboard singles chart in 1977. He also composed music for the sequels Rocky II , Rocky III , Rocky V and Rocky Balboa . Conti also worked for some other films and, eventually, for television series.
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Hamilton Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located along the western shore of San Pablo Bay, south of Novato, California. Hamilton Airfield was named for First Lieutenant Lloyd Andrews Hamilton of the 17th Aero Squadron, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism at... Varssonaore, Belgium, in leading a low level bombing attack on a German airdrome 30 miles behind enemy lines on August 13, 1918. Thirteen days later Hamilton died in action near Lagnicourt, France. Source for Major Commands and Major Units assigned: What would eventually become Hamilton Air Force Base has its origins in the late 1920s, when the airfield was first established. Known at first unofficially as the Marin County Air Field, as Marin Airfield, as Marin Meadows Air Field, and as the Army Air Base at Marin Meadows, it was officially termed from 1929 until 1932 the "Air Corps Station, San Rafael." Then, with formal development beginning, it was named Hamilton Army Air Field on July 12, 1932. Construction of the airfield began about July 1, 1932, with the airfield being originally designed to accommodate four bomb squadrons and their personnel.
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