The twenty-fourth annual RI Aviation Hall of Fame Class of Honorees will be recognized at our annual dinner on Saturday, November 21, 2026 at The Scottish Rite Center, 2115 Broad St, Cranston, RI.
2026 Guest of Honor
Rear Admiral Darryl Walker, a Naval Aviator & President of U.S. Naval War College
Admiral Walker, a Naval Aviator, is President of U.S. Naval War College. After enlisting in the Air Force he was accepted for flight training by the Navy, earning his Naval Flight Officer designation in 1992. He spent most of his flying career on anti-submarine and electronic warfare aircraft, flying combat missions in Iraq and Bosnia. Following high-level command and Pentagon assignments he was promoted to Admiral in April 2020. In August of 2024, Walker assumed duty as the President of the Naval War College. In his career he has accrued some 3900 flight hours and 696 carrier-arrested landings.
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The Other 2026 Honorees
MG Andrew J. Chevalier USA (1967-
Major General and Army Aviator Andrew J. Chevalier is the 45th Adjutant General of Rhode Island and the Commanding General of the Rhode Island National Guard. Commissioned through URI’s ROTC program in 1991, he earned his wings and deployed to Iraq in 2004. He commanded an aviation battalion in a 2012 deployment to Kuwait. MG Chevalier served as the Director of the Joint Staff and Land Component Commander for the RI Army National Guard, and was awarded the Legion of Merit for his leadership. He is a past president of the RI Chapter of the Army Aviation Association.
LT (jg) Victor M. Gadrow USN (1913–1941) Lost at sea, Wake Island mission
Naval Aviator Gadrow from Peacedale died a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 22, 1941, during a mission to relieve Wake Island, his F4F Wildcat crashed into the rough seas, becoming South Kingstown’s first wartime loss. Gadrow joined the Navy in 1930. Selected from the ranks, he graduated from Annapolis in 1935. A latecomer to aviation, he did not earn his wings until the spring of 1941. His death caused a sad distinction for his mother, Hulda Mary Gadrow. Having lost her first-born son in World War I, she is believed to be the only Gold Star Mother in the country to have lost sons in both wars.
Captain John P. “Jack” Keenan, USA (Ret) (1944-
Over his aviation career, Keenan accrued more than 19,000 flight hours, 920 of which were in combat. He joined the RI National Guard in October, 1972 after returning from a tour with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, where he earned a Bronze Star and 19 Air Medals. He spend most of his life as a working pilot, flying both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters, prop planes and private jets. Perhaps best known as ““Captain Jack” from his years providing airborne WHIM radio traffic reports, he also flew as an Emergency Medical Services pilot in the Rockies. He finished his career as an FAA Operations Inspector. Keenan served in the National Guard or Reserves until 1994, earning the Master Army Aviator Badge and numerous other awards.
CDR Francis J. Lakeway, USN (Ret) (1935-
URI grad Lakeway earned his wings at Pensacola in 1959. Qualified in prop planes, jets and helicopters, he flew for the Navy on four continents, to include Antarctica. His first Vietnam tour was as a Huey pilot in the Mekong Delta supporting the Navy’s river patrols. On his return, he was assigned to the Lockheed Skunk Works where NASA trained him to fly a top-secret powered glider. He then returned to the combat zone to test fly it in Vietnam. He left active duty in 1968, joining Mohawk Airlines. Furloughed in 1970, he rejoined the Navy, where he was selected as the first CO of a new attack helicopter squadron. After retiring back to Rhode Island, he was rehired by Mohawk’s successor, USAir. After his second retirement in 1992 he returned to general aviation—flying and owning several private aircraft.
CWO4 Steven Moy, USA (Ret) (1949-
Moy’s 34 year military career is highlighted by two wartime deployments, to Vietnam and Iraq. He enlisted in 1967 and earned his wings the following year. In Vietnam, he served with 71st Assault Helicopter Company, 1st Aviation Brigade in Chu Lai. He flew 928 combat hours in a UH-1 Huey, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and 21 Air Medals. After a break in service, he joined the RI Army National Guard, spending most of his career as an instructor pilot. He deployed to Honduras in 2004. His second combat deployment came during Operation Iraqi Freedom III. CW4 Moy has more than 4600 flight hours, of which 1320 were flown in combat. He received the Order of Saint Michael Award from the Army Aviation Association of America recognizing his outstanding contributions to Army Aviation and the broader aviation community.
COL Ernest R. Oliveira, USAF (Ret) (1942-
Colonel Oliveira joined the Air Force in 1964, and was commissioned the following year. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross in Vietnam as a B52 Navigator/Electronic Warfare Officer. During his three combat tours in Southeast Asia he flew some 200 combat missions totaling more than 1200 combat hours. After leaving active duty in 1969 he began his civilian career at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, where he worked for 35 years. He served in several Branch Head positions and as the Technical Manager/Chief Engineer for the SEAWOLF Class Submarine Combat System Program. He joined the RI Air National Guard in 1972 and served in various communications capacities, 2including serving as CO of 81 Combat Communications Group. After serving on active duty during Desert Shield/Desert Storm, he retired in 1997.
PRESIDENT’S AWARD
Each year the RIAHOF President may recommend one additional award to any individual, group or organization whose achievement does not fit any other award category, or whose contribution is to the furtherance of the Hall of Fame itself.
TBD
Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame (RIAHOF) is a volunteer driven non-profit group dedicated to identifying, honoring, and perpetuating the memory of those individuals who have contributed to Rhode Island’s rich aviation history.
Few people know just how rich and varied our aviation history is, and just how many wonderfully skilled and talented contributors to the aerial age have been born in Rhode Island, were educated here, lived here for a portion of their lives, or performed some great aviation-related act or service here.
Please help us perpetuate this message!
