'AMERICAN HERO' EULOGIZED STATE SENATOR, RENOWNED TEST PILOT LAID TO REST.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

State Sen. William J. ``Pete'' Knight, a decorated former test pilot who authored the state's gay marriage ban, was eulogized Thursday at a funeral that drew 2,000 mourners, among them Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, retired test pilot Chuck Yeager and astronaut Edwin ``Buzz'' Aldrin.

Dead at 74, three weeks after he was diagnosed with leukemia, Knight was buried with military honors on a hillside above the city he served as mayor and councilman for eight years.

``Pete Knight was clearly a great American hero,'' said Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson, commander at Edwards Air Force Base, where Knight set a 1967 speed record that still stands. ``In our vernacular, he was an airman with a capital A. That means he contributed to aviation, to America and to our great Air Force in the way only an airman can do.''

As Knight's casket lay draped with an American flag at the grave site, four Air Force T-38 jets roared over Desert Lawn Memorial Park, one soaring upward in the ``missing-man formation.'' An Air Force honor guard fired a 21-gun salute and a trumpeter blew taps.

The American flag that covered Knight's casket had waved over Edwards last Friday, the day Knight died. Pearson presented the folded flag to Knight's widow, Gail, whom he married in 1983 after the death of his first wife.

Before the miles-long funeral procession reached the cemetery, it passed Palmdale City Hall, where scores of city workers lined Sierra Highway, some waving American flags.

In Sacramento, the Palmdale Republican was best known as the author of Proposition 22, passed by California voters in 2002, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman - a measure now being challenged in court.

But many of the recollections during his funeral at Lancaster Baptist Church were about Knight's 32-year Air Force career and his strong character.

``Many words come to mind when I think of him: dad, friend,'' said son Stephen Knight. ``Patriot - I think that's what he considered the highest honor.''

Another son, David Knight, was not present. David Knight, who is gay, publicly opposed his father's stance on gay marriage.

Knight's teenage grandson, Sean Lynch, also explained how Knight's nickname ``Pete'' was given him by grade-school classmates because he made faces like Peter Cottontail.

An Indiana farm boy, Knight rode as a jockey and hitchhiked across the country three or four times as a young man, then earned his Air Force commission and pilot wings through the service's aviation cadet program.

Knight tested planes at Edwards and was picked for a winged spacecraft called the Dyna Soar - canceled before it flew. But he earned his astronaut wings flying X-15 rocket planes at Edwards, and in an X-15 in 1967 he set a speed record of 4,520 mph that still stands.

Sent to Vietnam, he flew F-100 fighter jets in 253 combat missions, earning three Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Later involved in the development of the F-15 fighter jet, Knight returned to Edwards as its test center vice commander and stayed until he retired in 1982.

Two years after his Air Force retirement, Knight was elected to the Palmdale City Council, and later was elected mayor.

Antelope Valley voters sent Knight to the state Assembly in 1992, then to the state Senate in 1996, representing a district that runs from Ventura County to the Victorville area.

``The greatest thing I admire about Pete is he had a full career as a pilot, as a military pilot and in the civilian X-15,'' said Aldrin, the second man on the moon, who met Knight while commander of Edwards' test pilot school after his Apollo mission. ``But he didn't rest on his laurels. He charted out a whole new career of service to his fellow human beings in the land he loved, the Antelope Valley.''

In addition to present and former Air Force officers, Antelope Valley civic leaders and politicians, the funeral crowd included ordinary constituents who voted for Knight or ran into him around town.

``They're real good people,'' said mourner Darleen Peterson, 75, a longtime Lancaster resident. ``I liked his honesty. He wasn't pretentious.''

Schwarzenegger told mourners that he had a prepared speech, but had decided not to use it. Instead, he recalled how Knight called him two weeks after he was elected governor, saying he wanted to talk about an important matter - the Capitol Christmas tree.

For years, Knight told Schwarzenegger, the tree had been called the Christmas tree. Former Gov. Gray Davis had called it the holiday tree, and Knight disapproved.

``He was just practically going crazy,'' Schwarzenegger said. ``I could see the veins popping out. He said, 'We have to honor God with the Christmas tree, goddamn it.'

``That's Pete Knight. That's the intensity of Pete Knight.''

And as long as he is governor, Schwarzenegger said, the Capitol tree will be known as a Christmas tree.

Charles F. Bostwick, [phone]

chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com

1929-2004

WILLIAM J. `PETE' KNIGHT

The following is a timeline highlighting state Sen. William J. ``Pete'' Knight's accomplishments throughout his military and political career:

1929: Born Nov. 18, 1929, in Noblesville, Ind.

1953: Commissioned an Air Force officer.

1954: Wins the Allison Trophy in an F-89 fighter jet at the Dayton National Air Show.

1958: Graduates from the Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base.

1967: Sets a speed record of 4,520 mph in an X-15 rocket plane.

1968: Sent to Vietnam to fly F-100 fighter jets and earned three Distinguished Flying Crosses.

1984: Elected to Palmdale City Council.

1988: Elected Palmdale mayor.

1992: Elected to the state Assembly.

1996: Elected to the state Senate.

2004: Dies May 7 at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte.

- Daily News

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Above, Gail Knight and pastor Paul Chappell follow behind Air Force pallbearers at Desert Lawn Memorial Park on Thursday during funeral services for her husband, Sen. William J. ``Pete'' Knight. At right, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stands silently as the procession passes. The funeral drew 2,000 mourners, among them retired test pilot Chuck Yeager and astronaut Edwin Aldrin.

(3 -- color -- ran in AV edition only) Stephen Knight speaks at funeral services for his father, state Sen. William J. ``Pete'' Knight, at the Lancaster Baptist Church on Thursday.

(4 -- ran in AV edition only) Air Force pallbearers place Pete Knight's casket in a hearse, following services Thursday at the Lancaster Baptist Church.

(5 -- 6; 5 ran in Valley and AV editions only; 6 ran in AV edition only) Air Force Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson presents the flag that draped Pete Knight's coffin to his widow, Gail, above. At right, Sean Lynch speaks at the funeral service for his grandfather, explaining how he got the nickname ``Pete.''

(7 -- ran in AV edition only) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

(8 -- color -- ran in SAC edition only) Gail Knight and the Rev. Paul Chappell follow Air Force pallbearers at Desert Lawn Memorial Park in Palmdale during funeral services for Sen. William J. ``Pete'' Knight on Thursday.

Pool Photos

Box:

(ran in AV edition only) 1929-2004

WILLIAM J. `PETE' KNIGHT (see text)