Lieutenant Commander Stanley Auslander, US Naval Reserve, a long-time Warwick resident and patrol bomber pilot, sank one German U-boat and damaged another off the coast of Brazil. He later flew patrols from England before and after D-day, and is credited with homing a British destroyer in to sink another U-boat. He earned a Distinguished Flying […]
Captain Frederick R. Bartlett was born in Lakewood, Ohio on 22 June 1930. He grew up Wyncote, Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts, where he captained the swim and tennis teams. Fred enlisted in the Navy in 1952 at the height of the Korean War. He became a Naval Aviator, assault helicopter pilot with […]
Alabama-born Richard Warren Blackman (1939—2013) made a major contribution to aviation in RI through
his lengthy service with the Civil Air Patrol (CAP).
Commander Harold J. Brow, USN (1894-1982) Born in Fall River, he graduated from Providence Technical High School in 1912. He served in the Rhode Island National Guard from 1913-1914, then enlisted in the Navy in April, 1917 and earned his wings a year later. By 1923 he was the fastest flyer in the world; Brow […]
Born in 1925, Pawtucket resident Ken Brown joined the Navy in early 1943. He saw action in the Mediterranean, European, China-Burma-India and Pacific theaters, and participated in both the Sicilian and Normandy invasions as a Gunner’s Mate on LSTs. Brown took flying lessons shortly after his discharge, and in 1957 he joined the FAA as […]
Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957), after retiring early from the Navy in 1916 because of an ankle injury, was assigned to be the Inspector-Instructor of the RI Naval Militia in 1916. He supervised the Militia’s acquisition of its first seaplane, and helped usher this state into military aviation. He then became the Militia’s last commander, serving […]
Captain William McBrayer Calhoun, USN, Ret. (1948-2015) was a long-time RI resident who graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1967. Capt. Calhoun was a LTJG with the highly decorated Helicopter Attack Squadron (Light) 3), nicknamed the “Seawolves”, an all-volunteer squadron formed in support of Naval Special Warfare operations and Mobile Riverine Forces.
LCDR Lynn Carter II, US Navy, Retired (1946-) US Naval Academy, 1968; Navy fighter pilot; numerous carrier-based combat missions over Vietnam, earning multiple Strike/Flight Air Medals and three Commendation Medals with combat “V”. Graduate of Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun). Flew 747s around the world for Atlas Air until mandatory retirement.
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]