Before Brad Messick graduated from high school in 1966 at 19 he had already been notified by his draft board. He signed up with the Navy and was allowed to graduate before going to sea.
Tagged USS Pueblo
For 60 years ex-Navy Cmdr. Bob Thomas has served his country and his God
After graduating from Pensacola Naval Air Station in 1951, Ensign Bob Thomas served as a navigator aboard a Navy P-2V, twin-engine “Neptune” bomber. He flew intelligence missions with the “Blue Goose Squadron,” VP-22, part of the “Formosa Straits Patrol Force” that surveilled the China coast.
‘Jap Zeroes were diving on our fantail, I ordered: ‘Blast the SOBs out of the sky!’
After 20 years of service in the U.S. Navy, Eugene Maresca retired in 1983 as a full commander. He served three years in the regular Navy and the rest in the Naval Reserve.
Larry McClure, a ‘Pearl Harbor Baby’ flew rescue helicopters in Vietnam
Larry McClure of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. thinks of himself as a Pearl Harbor baby. He was born on Dec. 20, 1941 at the Naval hospital in Pearl Harbor. His father was a Navy chief at the time serving with the Pacific Fleet at Pearl. His dad was aboard the carrier USS Lexington when she…
1st Lt. Rex Anderson fought Russian MIG-15s in his F-86 over Yelu in Korea
1st Lt. Rex Anderson (Ret.) of Burnt Store Isles tangled with Russian MIG-15 fighters over the Yalu River in dogfights during the 100 combat missions he flew in an F-86 “Sabre Jet” during the Korea War. The commendation accompanying the second Air Medal he received doesn’t tell the whole story.
