SAJohn
Hunter
I have meet only one actual recipient but know two others who were nominated for it.
The first one was an elderly gentleman I meet in a check out line here in Central Oregon. He was wearing a cap with the Navy Cross embossed on it. We struck up a conversation and I told him I knew what the symbol meant. He replied that his family got the hat for him so he was obliged to wear it. I shook his hand and said it was on honor for me. Sadly, I refrained from asking him how earned the medal because, as a child, my mother had taught me that it was impolite to ask WWII vets about their combat experiences.
Later, I learned that I had shaken hands with Rex Barber, a WWII ace and the man who shot down Yamamoto (the mastermind of the Peal Harbor attack). It turned out that Rex lived only a couple of miles away from me. Later, we named a the new Deschutes River bridge after him.
Politics now raises its' ugly head even in the military, the flight leader was awarded half of the kill even though he was not directly involved in it.
Next comes my old friend Bill McQuigan who had the 8th Naval Aviator MIG kill in Vietnam (the 13th of the war, summer of '66) and the first pilot to use a China Lake Sidewinder missile to do the job. He was submitted for the Cross but awarded the next one down.
The first version of the Sidewinder missile could only pull about 4 or 5 gee's, the Soviet's knew this and had told the North Vietnam pilots to go into a 6 gee turn to dodge the heat seekers. Learning this we, at China Lake, redesigned the Sidewinder to pull 9 gee's. Bill had one of the first new Sidewinders on his F-4 and was in level flight on the MIGs' 6 o'clock, they were both holding 6 gee's. With the lock tone on, Bill launched his Sidewinder. It immediately went off to the side and Bill cursed, then realized his missile was setting up an intercept course which blew the MIG out of the sky.
Bill was so excited that, when returning to Yankee Station, he did his victory roll over the wrong aircraft carrier. Fortunately for him he realized his error and did not land on the that Carrier. If he had, they would have repainted his plane with their name and numbers. When asked why he had done the victory roll over the other carrier, he told his shipmates he was just rubbing it in.
Bill had actually finished his tour but went on this last mission because it was suspected to be a MIG rich environment. He was nominated for the Cross because it was a mission he did not need to fly.
Last comes my younger brother David. He was a Huey crew chief and door gunner early in the Vietnam war ('64 - '65). A Colonel gave his crew an arrival briefing telling them that it wasn't much of a war but it was all that they had so make the most of it.
David was a leader in arming and adding armor plating to those new Huey's. Their machine gun's were hanging out the open doors on bungee cord.
During one mission, the co-pilot was killed and the tail rotor damaged by enemy gunfire. While they were making an emergency landing into a small enemy held clearing, my brother got his head outside enough to figure out the damage and gathered the tools for a very quick fix. On the ground he dashed outside to repair the damage while bullets were flying around him. Finishing the job, he yelled at the pilot to take off while David dashed for the door.
The pilot put David in for the Army's equivalent of Navy Cross. All though the ranking officer of this mission had nothing to do with David's actions, the Major included himself in the nomination so neither one of them got it.
C'est la Guerre
John
The first one was an elderly gentleman I meet in a check out line here in Central Oregon. He was wearing a cap with the Navy Cross embossed on it. We struck up a conversation and I told him I knew what the symbol meant. He replied that his family got the hat for him so he was obliged to wear it. I shook his hand and said it was on honor for me. Sadly, I refrained from asking him how earned the medal because, as a child, my mother had taught me that it was impolite to ask WWII vets about their combat experiences.
Later, I learned that I had shaken hands with Rex Barber, a WWII ace and the man who shot down Yamamoto (the mastermind of the Peal Harbor attack). It turned out that Rex lived only a couple of miles away from me. Later, we named a the new Deschutes River bridge after him.
Politics now raises its' ugly head even in the military, the flight leader was awarded half of the kill even though he was not directly involved in it.
Next comes my old friend Bill McQuigan who had the 8th Naval Aviator MIG kill in Vietnam (the 13th of the war, summer of '66) and the first pilot to use a China Lake Sidewinder missile to do the job. He was submitted for the Cross but awarded the next one down.
The first version of the Sidewinder missile could only pull about 4 or 5 gee's, the Soviet's knew this and had told the North Vietnam pilots to go into a 6 gee turn to dodge the heat seekers. Learning this we, at China Lake, redesigned the Sidewinder to pull 9 gee's. Bill had one of the first new Sidewinders on his F-4 and was in level flight on the MIGs' 6 o'clock, they were both holding 6 gee's. With the lock tone on, Bill launched his Sidewinder. It immediately went off to the side and Bill cursed, then realized his missile was setting up an intercept course which blew the MIG out of the sky.
Bill was so excited that, when returning to Yankee Station, he did his victory roll over the wrong aircraft carrier. Fortunately for him he realized his error and did not land on the that Carrier. If he had, they would have repainted his plane with their name and numbers. When asked why he had done the victory roll over the other carrier, he told his shipmates he was just rubbing it in.
Bill had actually finished his tour but went on this last mission because it was suspected to be a MIG rich environment. He was nominated for the Cross because it was a mission he did not need to fly.
Last comes my younger brother David. He was a Huey crew chief and door gunner early in the Vietnam war ('64 - '65). A Colonel gave his crew an arrival briefing telling them that it wasn't much of a war but it was all that they had so make the most of it.
David was a leader in arming and adding armor plating to those new Huey's. Their machine gun's were hanging out the open doors on bungee cord.
During one mission, the co-pilot was killed and the tail rotor damaged by enemy gunfire. While they were making an emergency landing into a small enemy held clearing, my brother got his head outside enough to figure out the damage and gathered the tools for a very quick fix. On the ground he dashed outside to repair the damage while bullets were flying around him. Finishing the job, he yelled at the pilot to take off while David dashed for the door.
The pilot put David in for the Army's equivalent of Navy Cross. All though the ranking officer of this mission had nothing to do with David's actions, the Major included himself in the nomination so neither one of them got it.
C'est la Guerre
John
