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Testimony of Pilot# 19

“… They leave this tiny ship and fly against the enemy.  Then they must seek the ship, lost somewhere on the sea.  And when they find it, they have to land upon its pitching deck.  Where did we get such men?”

As the closing post in testimony’s Chapter 3 – Where did we get such men?  – the purpose is first, to add to the collection a fairly well traveled  but I think spot on piece The Fighter Pilot, by an unknown – obviously Air Force –  author;
and second, to provide some discussion of the characterization of what such men and women really do – despite the fighter pilot label – and will continue to do in the future.  Truth be told, it’s really what they’ve always done though sometimes Red Baron semantics and  emerging technology tends to blur the picture.

Cdr James Stockdale leading the Operation Pierce Arrow strike on Vinh, North Vietnam as the result of the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964 by R.G. Smith.

The Fighter Pilot

 author unknown

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Testimony of Pilot# 18

They do tell stories about fighter pilots and indeed, fast mover combat pilots of the fighter/attack  clan are seldom reluctant to pass on a little this is no s..t  (TINS) with quite possibly some embellishment of their swashing of buckles derring -do over time. 

Most readers are familiar with Pat Conroy’s book and follow-on movie The Great Santini, and some most certainly are knowledgable about Conroy’s Marine aviator father Colonel Don Conroy. Even though there is most certainly a dark side to Don Conroy as a father, for me this series and particularly for a chapter labeled “where did we get such men,” not capturing Pat Conroy’s eulogy for his father would just be incomplete … and so here’s to the Great Santini – and note, even among fighter and attack guys, carrying off that call sign required some real TINS.

COLONEL DON CONROY’S  EULOGY 

by his son, Pat Conroy. Continue reading →

Testimony of Pilot# 17

Proceedings Magazine – September 2011  published an article by Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman  “Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead?” discussing  the fallout of Tailhook ’91 and the effect political correctness has had on a hard-earned mystique, noting The swaggering-flyer mystique forged over the past century has been stymied in recent years by political correctness.

Secretary Lehman’s focal point and full text go beyond the scope of Testimony of Pilot Chapter 3, “Where did/do we get such men?” but his lead in defines our heritage very well.

from

Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead?

by John Lehman
Proceedings Sept 2011, U.S. Naval Institute

We celebrate the 100th anniversary of U.S. naval aviation this year, but the culture that has become legend was born in controversy, with battleship admirals and Marine generals seeing little use for airplanes. Even after naval aviators proved their worth in World War II, naval aviation faced constant conflict within the Navy and Marine Corps, from the War Department, and from skeptics in Congress. Throughout the interwar period, its culture was forged largely unnoted by the public.

It first burst into the American consciousness 69 years ago when a few carrier aviators changed the course of history at the World War II Battle of Midway. Continue reading →

Testimony of Pilot# 16

MEDAL OF HONOR citation… for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while Senior Naval Officer in the Prisoner of War camps of North Vietnam on 4 September 1969. Recognized by his captors as the leader in the Prisoners’ of War resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Admiral Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt…

… Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-dis-figuration to dissuade his captors from exploiting him for propaganda purposes had resulted in cruel and agonizing punishment, Rear Admiral Stockdale resolved to make himself a symbol of resistance regardless of personal sacrifice. He deliberately inflicted a near-mortal wound to his person in order to convince his captors of his willingness to give up his life rather than capitulate. He was subsequently discovered and revived by the North Vietnamese who, convinced of his indomitable spirit, abated in their employment of excessive harassment and torture toward all of the Prisoners of War. By his heroic action, at great peril to himself, he earned the everlasting gratitude of his fellow prisoners and of his country… 

Always Leading and Always Will

by Orson Swindle (USMC, Ret)
with add by Paul Galanti (USN, Ret)
Prisoners of War in North Vietnam

[Reproduced with permission of USNI and the author]

The country, the Navy, the Stockdale family, especially his beloved wife, Sybil, and those of us who were POWs in North Vietnam suffered a terrible loss with the passing on 5 July (2005) of Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale. Husband, father, patriot, mentor, author, and dear friend, he touched our lives profoundly. Distinguished graduate of the Naval Academy, Medal of Honor recipient, courageous warrior, brilliant leader, almost bigger than life, he never stopped inspiring us. It is difficult to accept that he is gone. We recognize how fortunate we are that he came our way. Continue reading →

Testimony of Pilot# 15

Where do we get such men?

…From the farms and the fields of America, grown from boys who labor and look beyond the horizon toward better lives—for themselves and for their families.

         The fields of Lewis Alexander Hopkins were red Georgia clay, and he saw the horizon along the backs and between the plow harness of Tom and Golden, the mule and the horse.  After a long day, Lewis would trudge back home to a farmhouse with loose-fitting boards that let in the wind, a front porch where the family visited with neighbors, and with the outhouse down yonder.

That’s the way Anne Hopkins began the eulogy for her father, Rear Admiral Lew Hopkins – “from a farm in Georgia.”

         Below are excerpts from an interview with her Dad for the oral history collection of Admiral Nimitz Historic Site-National Museum of the Pacific War, Center for Pacific War Studies in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Admiral Hopkins and his daughter Anne in a Dauntless.

Interview with

RADM. Lewis A. Hopkins (USN-Retired)

SBD Pilot (VB-6) – USS Enterprise –Battle of Midway

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