Posted on 04/03/2008 9:35:22 AM PDT by DCBryan1
Thanks!
Out!
You might want to ping the banglist guys, as that would probably be a good source.
I would love this information, as well.
What did he fly, and what carrier was he on?
I recognize that wikipedia is not always reliable, but there is a list of recipients here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Navy_Cross_recipients
Bump for justice.
My first response would probably be to tell him to bring it and his citation in, as a sort of show and tell. Then press on when he hems and haws about doing that.
Did he know William Holden and Mickey Rooney? :)
Toko-Ri was a creation of James Michener.
The Navy Cross is a pretty public award. Ask him to bring in the medal and certificate. Otherwise, unit and station info is probably the way to go.
cant do much better than that.....print it up and post it and or e-mail it to him....If hes on it you owe him
post #11 has two reportedly complete rosters...should satisfy one way or the other
Sound interested and engage him. Get as much detail as you can, written down if possible. What service was he in? What squadron was he with? What type of airplane did he fly? From what airbase or aircraft carrier? What rank was he? What did he do before he flew at Toko-Ri? Where did he take his various pilot training courses? If he gets curious, tell him you told your kids about him and they thought it was cool, and you’re getting the info for them. Once you have simple information like that, you can research using an Internet search engine.
I’m a civilian, but I’ll say this much—it’s always been my impression that in that time period, he’d have to have been a Navy or Marine pilot to win a Navy Cross. Pilots were commissioned officers, which generally (but not always) means he’d have to have had a college degree. Realistically, when you factor that in, plus the time it’d take to train a fighter pilot, I don’t think he could be any younger than 22 and be a Navy/Marine officer pilot of a single-seat or two-seat fighter/attack aircraft. But I’d defer on that to some of our military experts.
}:-)4
You might start by seeing if his name is in THIS LIST.
Where do we get such men...
These cases were all investigated by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General VA-OIG. The VA Office of the Inspector General operates a HOTLINE for the public to confidentially and safely report crimes like Stolen Valor involving VA or its programs. Call 800-488-8244, or fax to 202-565-7936, or e-mail to vaoighotline@va.gov, or write to VA OIG HOTLINE, PO Box 50410, Washington, DC 20091-0410.
The cases filed in the Western District of Washington are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald J. Friedman. For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorneys Office, at (206) 553-4110.
There have been a lot of these stories lately. Stolen Valor Act definitely applies here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.