Townsend Griffiss [SEP] educated at
raised in Coronado, California, an affluent coastal suburb of San Diego.
Professional career.
Griffiss graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1922, and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. He trained as a fighter pilot in Texas, then served in Hawaii from 1925 to 1928. His family's wealth allowed him to rent a house on Waikiki Beach, and there he wrote a guidebook "When you go to Hawaii you will need this guide to the Islands", which was published in 1930
there until 1995, when the base was closed. It is now Griffiss International Airport and Griffiss Business Park, which supports a detachment of the Air Force Research Laboratory.
His great-nephew (sister's grandson) and namesake is Rear Admiral Townsend Griffiss Alexander of the U.S. Navy, who retired from active duty 
External links.
- Strategic-Air-Command.com – Griffiss Air Force Base
- "When you go to Hawaii you will need this guide to the Islands", Townsend Griffiss, Houghton Mifflin (