Paul Broadnax, the child of two well-known and influential Boston-area classical musicians, played with the Tuskegee Airmen military band and dance band.
Paul Broadnax
Kenneth Brown
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 […]
RADM Richard E. Byrd Jr.
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 […]
CAPT William Calhoun
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.
BG Christopher Callahan
BG Christopher Callahan, USA now serves as the 44th Adjutant General of the State of RI. Previously, he served as the Director of Aviation and Safety at Quonset. He also served in Iraq as CO of 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment.
LtCol Lynn Carter US Air Force, Retired
LtCol Lynn Carter US Air Force, Retired (1919-2014) B-26 and B-25 bomber pilot with 69 combat missions during WWII; awarded Distinguished Flying Cross, French Croix de Guerre and seven Air Medals. A California native, he enlisted right after Pearl Harbor; after war, moved east and graduated Brown University and Harvard Business School. Recalled to active […]
LCDR Lynn Carter II, US Navy, Retired
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.
VADM Walter “Ted” Carter
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
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 […]
George Chakoian
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 […]
Maj. William D. Chesarek, USMC
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
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 […]