Lieutenant Commander Paul Gurnon, USN (Ret.) may be the only living Rhode Islander to have a geographical feature named after him. In recognition of his overall service in Antarctica, the US Geologic Survey named a section of Marie Byrd Land after him – Gurnon Peninsula. Gurnon enlisted in the Navy before Pearl Harbor in 1941, […]
Gerald T. Hanley, Sr. (1884-1950) is considered the founder of the Rhode Island Air National Guard. Then-1st Lt. Hanley of Battery A, Coast Artillery, in the RI state militia used his own Curtiss hydro-aeroplane to provide basic aeronautics instruction to members of his battery well before the US entry into World War I. Early flier […]
1LT John Harootunian flew 40 combat missions in a B-24 with the 374th and 373rd Bombardment Squadrons of the 14th Air Force “Flying Tigers” in China in 1944 and 1945. His unit was tasked to attack Japanese shipping in the South China Sea, using low-level bombing techniques to avoid detection and enemy fire. They usually […]
Edouard Jacques (1921-2013) was born in West Warwick, graduated from West Warwick High School and joined the National Guard in 1940 at the age of 19. In 1943 he became an Aviation Cadet and trained as a B-24 bombardier, earning his wings in Lincoln, NE in 1944. He married the love of his life, Marie […]
Edward Albert Johnson (1885-1949) was born in Newport, RI in January of 1885. He developed an interest in aeronautics and spent May-October, 1915, at the Curtiss school in Buffalo. He first soloed in 1915 and received Pilot License No. 32. He joined the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and became its representative in England. After the US […]
Harry M. Jones (1890-1973) Described in a 1912 Providence Journal article as Rhode Island’s “1st home grown aviator”, Jones managed the very first air show ever held in Rhode Island that same year. He was also the first (and last) person ever to land a plane on the Boston Common. Jones was best known, however, […]
John J. Kapstein (1918-2016) is the only American buried in Moscow’s in Novodevichy Cemetery, roughly the Russian equivalent of Arlington National Cemetery. A native of Providence, he graduated from Hope High School and enlisted in the 103rd Field Artillery of the RI National Guard in 1934 by lying about his age. He eventually became a […]
Major Melvin Kimball is a World War II P-40 ace who was born in Providence and grew up in Greystone. He graduated from Hope High School in 1935, where he was a state champion wrestler. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1939, excelling in football and track. Kimball was one of the […]
Arthur Lasker was a World War II fighter pilot with the US Army Air Force. When the U.S. dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945, many believed the war was over. Arthur E. Lasker, a young pilot from New York who was serving with the 36th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group […]
Leger was probably the first Rhode Islander lost in the European Theater during WWII. Trained as a gunner, he deployed to Palestine. Within two weeks of his arrival he was dead. Staff Sergeant Rene A. Leger was killed on August 9, 1942, when his Palestine-based B-24 went down during a raid against Rommel’s supply line […]
Lieutenant Colonel John M. Lepry US Air Force (Ret) (1917-2003), a Warwick resident, flew 101 combat missions in a P-47 Thunderbolt over Italy, France and Germany in 1944 and 1945. He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross, five single action Air Medals and the Soldier’s Medal. He was born July 17, 1917 and graduated from […]
Providence native Ogden R. Lindsley Jr. (1922-2004) moved to North Kingstown at the age of 14 and graduated from North Kingstown High School in 1939. He entered Brown University in 1940, majoring in Engineering. In January 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He trained as a flight engineer and as a door […]
RI Army National Guard helicopter and fixed wing pilot; during the Vietnam War he flew clandestine CIA missions in Laos with Air America for six years. After civilian postings to Iran and Saudi Arabia, he finished his career as Maintenance Officer for Army Aviation. He accrued more than 11,000 flight hours over his 43 years […]
A Westerly native, Low enlisted in the Rhode Island National Guard in 1936 and graduated from West Point in 1942.