Francis (Frank) Yohannan was a
World War II hero, a United States Air Force
bombardier, earning the
Distinguished Flying Cross and the
Bronze Star for his services.
Yohannan was born in 1922, and died in 2001 He will be best remembered as being the real-life inspiration for Captain Yossarian, the anti-hero of Joseph Heller's great novel Catch-22. Yohannan served with Heller in Corsica.
Yohannan wasn't the kind of bad-ass that Yossarian was -- Yossarian's rebellious nature was added to the character by Heller.