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 the DFC and the Navy Cross. When the Korean conflict erupted he found himself back in combat. On December 4, 1950 he flew cover when then-LT(jg) Thomas Hudner earned the Medal of Honor by crash-landing his own Corsair in a futile attempt to save the life of his wingman, Ensign Jesse Brown–the Navy’s first commissioned African-American pilot.