Vice Admiral and career Naval Aviator Walter “Ted” Carter of Pascoag, now Superintendent of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, earned his Naval Flight Officer wings in 1982. Since then, Admiral Carter, a record-setting “Top Gun” aviator, has made 2,016 landings (called “traps”) on aircraft carriers; that is more than anyone else in US Navy […]
Commander Richard L. Cevoli, USN (1919-1955) Born in East Greenwich in 1919, Commander Cevoli earned numerous decorations during WWII and Korea. The LaSalle Academy and URI grad was awarded the Navy Cross during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. By the end of his tour Cevoli earned a total of five Air Medals in addition to […]
Aerospace engineer George Chakoian flew 46 combat missions in the Pacific as a radio operator/gunner on a B-24. After graduating from RI School of Design in 1948, he began a technical career that spanned six decades. His specialty was airdrop systems, and he was Project Engineer for a number of projects relating to the airborne […]
Marine Corps Maj. William D. Chesarek was born in Newport, RI. He is the first American to receive Great Britain’s Distinguished Flying Cross since World War II. His exploits involved the daring rescue of a wounded British soldier in Iraq. Queen Elizabeth II presented his award at Buckingham Palace.
LCDR Godfrey DeCourcelles Chevalier, USN, Aviation Pioneer (1889 – 1922) Providence-born Chevalier graduated from the Naval Academy in 1910. On July 12, 1916, he was launched from the first catapult designed for shipboard use, aboard USS North Carolina. In 1917 Chevalier was assigned to duty in Europe. He commanded the US Naval Aeronautic Station in […]
James H. Chute (1918-1993), a Pawtucket native, was an 8th Air Force B-17 bomber pilot who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross over Germany. After completing his 35 combat missions in January, 1945, he went to the Pacific Division of Air Transport Command, flying C-54 transports. At the end of the war he participated in Southwest […]
The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is a congressionally chartered, federally supported non-profit corporation that serves as the official civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP is a volunteer organization with an aviation-minded membership that includes people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and occupations. In 2017, RIAHOF helped to honor the RI CAP on […]
General Philip Conley is a LaSalle Academy alumnus and a 1950 Naval Academy graduate who grew up in West Warwick and flew combat missions in Korea and Vietnam. He earned a Distinguished Flying Cross in Korea, flying with the famous forward air controller unit known as the “Mosquitoes”. Conley eventually rose to head the Flight Test […]
Captain John J. Coonan, Jr., USN (1944-2009) was born in Pawtucket to a Navy family. His father, who also retired as a Navy Captain, was deployed in the SW Pacific flying the PB4Y (Navy version of B-24) and did not see his son until he was 13 months old. His father was stationed at NAS […]
Pawtucket native Thomas G. Corcoran (1899-1981) played a pivotal role in the establishment of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers.
Bertrand “Bert” T. Cournoyer (1919-1967) was born and raised in Manville, RI. During WWII, Bert served as a French interpreter for General Claire Lee Chennault in Kunming, China.
Senior Chief Malcolm L. Craig, US Navy (1927-2006) was a Combat Air Crewman, World War II, Korea and Vietnam Veteran. Malcolm Craig was born in Charlotte, Maine and enlisted in the Navy in 1943 at age 16. After receiving navigation training he became a LORAN (Long Range Navigation) specialist. By the time he retired as […]