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.
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.
Antoine Gazda was an Austrian count, a race car driver, and a World War I fighter ace (on the losing side), but he spent World War II in Providence, living in suite 1009 of the Biltmore Hotel. The work he performed here in Rhode Island was considered so crucial to the Allied war effort that […]
William C. Harris (1906-1963) As an early transport pilot and commercial aviation executive, Harris led the American Airlines operations in Providence from inception in 1936 until he retired in 1962. He learned to fly at Harvard University in the late 1920s, and went to work for Curtiss-Wright Flying Service in Boston, piloting a Ford Trimotor to […]
Jennifer Murray is the first woman to fly a helicopter around the world. The Providence-born Murray was also the first person of either gender to pilot a piston engine helicopter around the world and the first to do it without an autopilot. Perhaps the most astounding aspect of her aerial exploits, however, is the fact […]
MAJ David L. Nuttall, US Army, Retired (1948- Army helicopter pilot, Vietnam; Master Army Aviator; helicopter instructor in Iran; maintenance test pilot; aviation instructor in both RI and NJ National Guard, accruing about 7500 hours military flight time. Flew another 2500 hours in civilian assignments—medevac, forest firefighting and oil rig support.
COL (Retired) William H. Pond USA (1945—) As an Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam he flew more than 1300 combat hours, earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Bronze Stars and numerous other decorations. Colonel Pond is a Master Army Aviator with more than 7800 hours total flight time. He is a two-time recipient of the […]
MAJ Eric ‘Ric’ Sawyer, USA, Retired (1945-2021) Army helicopter pilot, Vietnam, earning Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star and 31 Air Medals; 27 years in CT and RI National Guard. Radio station, corporate and Connecticut State Police helicopter pilot; ended flying career flying pipeline patrol for El Paso Energy. During his 45 year flying career, Sawyer […]
Master Army Aviator Thomas P. Shortall is best known for safely crash landing the helicopter carrying Governor Noel after a mechanical failure in May of 1976. He was raised in the Mount Pleasant section of Providence and graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1950. He joined the RI Air National Guard in 1949, and […]
Born in 1942, Wakefield native Rick Wilson earned the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, two Single Mission Air Medals, a Navy Commendation Medal and 46 mission Air Medals in Vietnam. He flew more than 900 missions in his 13 months of flying in-country, consisting primarily of recon insertions/extractions as well as medevac. He was 2nd […]