y e l l a V e h t n i g n Livi s d n u o the “S to
” m o d of Free
FLY NAVY
NAS Lemoore Blue Angels Air Show Saturday & Sunday Sept. 21-22
History of NAS Lemoore and the impact it has on the Valley plus stories of honor from local veterans inside.
Table of contents Since 1961 the skies over the Central Valley have been filled with the ―Sounds of Freedom‖. In the beginning it was the sounds from a single engine propeller plane known as the A-1 Skyraider and have most recently been filled with the F-18 Super Hornet and the newest strike fighter F-35C. We salute the men and women of NAS Lemoore with the 2019 Living In The Valley section and thank each of them for their valuable service.
History of NAS Lemoore Jets of NAS Lemoore NAS Squadrons Blue Angels (Event Schedule Pg. 16) Impact on the Valley Stories of Honor POW‘s In Memorial
4-21 13 14 15-19 21 24-27 28 29-30
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Photo courtesy of Jim Fraser
The Blue Angels will make their return to NAS Lemoore on Saturday and Sunday, September 21 & 22. Always an entertaining show, this years schedule of events promises to be one of the best ever events. ―We sincerely hope that whether this is the first, second or 73rd time you have seen us fly, the sight and sound of a Blue Angels performance delivers pride and exhilaration, an appreciation for teamwork and precision, and the inspiration to achieve excellence!‖
We would like to thank the past and present NAS Lemoore servicemen and women for making this country,
The land of the free and the home of the brave.
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
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"Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore is the U.S. Navy‘s West Coast Master Jet Base. The installation is home to more than half of the Fleet's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft as well as the only Navy base that is home to the F-35C Lightning II. NAS Lemoore tenants support missions for both Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific (CSFWP) and Commander, Joint Strike Fighter Wing (CJSFW) and their missions to train, man and equip west coast Strike-Fighter Squadrons and Joint Strike Fighter Squadrons. NAS Lemoore hosts 15 operational Strike-Fighter Squadrons, two Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS), one Search-and-Rescue (SAR) squadron and four west coast Carrier Air Wing Commanders (CVW) and their staff. On average, more than 210,000 flight operations occur at NAS Lemoore every year." Our Mission Today Section: NAS Lemoore is the home station for the Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific, and Commander Joint Strike Fighter Wing.
Living In The Valley – September 2019
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A-1 Skyraider
LNAS brings great changes to Kings County As reported in The Hanford Sentinel July 1961
The official commissioning of Lemoore Naval Air Station on July 8, 1961 signified the start of changes that would alter the surrounding communities for years to come. Kings County would never be the same. From the time the Navy awarded the first building contract in May of 1958, the 32,000 acre site west of Lemoore was the hub of constant activity. Through 1960 and 1961 as the opening date drew closer, construction efforts reached a stunning pace. Navy and civilian personnel alike began to realize something special was in the making. Hanford and Lemoore celebrated in grand fashion when the commissioning date finally arrived. A parade of proportions never before imagined weaved through the middle of Hanford. The July 8, 1991 edition of the Sentinel described the celebration: “The throng was estimated at 30,000 visitors, perhaps more. Streets in Hanford were lined with spectators for a long morning parade paying tribute to the Navy. Then the highways and roads were clogged with traffic as people made their way to the air station to see the exhibits, commissioning events and air show. A holiday atmosphere prevailed. Most stores in Hanford were closed, freeing hundreds more to attend.” Lemoore celebrated with equal intensity. A concert, fireworks and exhibit by the Navy Sky Raiders of North Island were conducted at the Lemoore High School stadium. A crowd of 110,000 persons turned out for the commissioning ceremonies which included the installation of Captain Howard M. Avery as the base‘s commanding officer. Lemoore NAS, opened as the primary West Coast attack base for the Navy, indeed it was an impressive project. Visitors were in awe of the 135 foot control tower and the 13,500 foot runways. While base residents applauded the comforts, Kings County residents were overjoyed with the influx of new neighbors. In a very short time the base was pumping an additional $30 million into the County‘s annual payroll. Living In The Valley – September 2019
What we were asked to do Page 6
Lemoore’s Vietnam experience 1964-1975 As reported in the Hanford Sentinel March 2014
Lemoore‘s role in the Vietnam War began when U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson ordered the Gulf of Tonkin retaliatory raids carried out on Aug. 5, 1964 at 8 a.m. Although a short warning time and operational difficulties delayed the actual launch from the Carriers USS Ticonderoga and Constellation, positioned in the South China Sea, 16 aircraft struck a petroleum storage complex near Vinh, North Vietnam at 1:20 p.m. Flying in the group were Cmdr. James Stockdale and Cmdr. Wesley McDonald. McDonald would become the first NASL squadron skipper to reach four-star admiral status, while Stockdale‘s bravery as a POW-he was shot down a year later earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor and four silver stars. A-1 Skyraiders and A-4 Skyhawks – including aircraft from Lemoore‘s VA-144 and 146 from the Connie‘s Carrier Air Wing 14 – also pounded North Vietnamese naval craft at their bases near Hon Gai and in the Lach Chao Estuary. The total results were impressive. The two-carriers plane attack sunk seven enemy vessels, severely damaged 10 more and inflicted lesser damage to another six while destroying 90 percent of North Vietnam‘s Chief fuel facility at Vinh. The raid, however, was not without cost. Flying a piston-enginned A-1 Skyraider from the carrier USS Constellation, VA-145‘s Lt.j.g. Richard Sather became the first naval aviator killed in the Vietnam War when his ‗Spad‘ was shot down during a raid on a North Vietnamese PT boat base near the city of Thanh Hoa, 25 miles north of the island of Hon Me. No parachute was seen, and no emergency radio beepers were heard. His remains were returned to the United States in 1985. VA-145 was home ported at NAS Miramar, but Sather lived and trained to fly the Skyraider at VA-122 about NAS Lemoore. Participating in the same attack as Lt.j.g. Everett Alvarez, assigned to VA-144, also stationed aboard Constellation and home based at NAS Lemoore. Alvarez, though, flew the Douglas A-4C Skyhawk and was part of an attack originally planned to hit North Vietnamese port facilities near the Chinese border but was diverted, at the last minute, to the same area Sather had just been shot down. Expecting to find docked PT boats ready for destruction, the flight instead found them fully deployed under a smoke screen. Alvarez‘s plane was hit from below and he was forced to eject and became the first naval aviator of the conflict to be captured. He spent the next eight and half years in the notorious Hanoi Hilton POW camp and was released in 1973.
Living In The Valley – September 2019
F-18 strike fighter arrives at NAS Lemoore Department of Navy press release September 1981
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September 1981 A mountain range near the Naval Air Station Lemoore provides the picturesque backdrop for a U.S. Navy/Marine Corps F-18 strike fighter during a recent training flight. Personnel from VFA-125 training squadron stationed at NAS Lemoore are flying and maintaining three McDonnell Douglas Hornets. The squadron will begin training Fleet personnel late 1982, in preparation for introduction of the F-18 into operational service.
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
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Photo courtesy of NAS Lemoore Circa 1962
Living In The Valley – September 2019
NAS Lemoore Search and Rescue Angels Page 10
Here at OMD/SAR we have three twin engine Bell Textron HH-1N "HUEYs" for Search and Rescue capabilities for military aircraft stationed at NAS Lemoore (mostly F-18s). SAR support is provided as a courtesy to the local parks and San Joaquin Valley area by the Commanding Officer. Usually this covers anywhere from 100 to 150 mile radius from the base (anywhere from the coastal area near Monterey to the Sierra Nevadas in the East. Our helos and crews often work along with other park rescue helicopters, local sheriffs and fire departments, flying an average of 32 actual SAR sorties per year. Our crews mostly practice 5 rescue methods: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Landing to effect a rescue Rescue via one skid Rescue via Hoist Rappelling Short Haul
Living In The Valley – September 2019
To ensure that our crewman are the most efficient, safe, and professional rescue crews around, Training is priority one. Whether utilizing the "Hard Stand" (a wooden stand used for training) at the end of the NAS runway or practicing in the hills of the Coalingas or mountains of Yosemite Park or the Sierras, our flight crews train long and hard.
'Fist of the Fleet' celebrates 75 years of Naval aviation As reported in the Lemoore Navy News January 26, 2018
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NAS Lemoore – Strike Fighter Squadron 25 (VFA-25) ―Fist of the Fleet‖ commemorated 75 years of meritorious service in defense of the United States with a ceremony that featured previous commanding officers and squadron members. The ceremony took place in the squadron‘s hangar spaces aboard Naval Air Station Lemoore (NASL) Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Christopher Dentzer, from Yardley Pa. commanding officer of VFA-25, invited friends, family and former members of the squadron to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding. Dentzer provided the opening remarks, marking some of the squadron‘s hallmarks of excellence throughout the years. As one of the oldest aviation squadrons in the U.S. Navy, the Fist of the Fleet has carried on its tremendous legacy, most recently flying the F/A-18E Super Hornet in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.
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F-35C arrives at NAS Lemoore As reported in the Hanford Sentinel January 2017
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Four F-35C Lightning II aircraft, arrived at Naval Air Station Lemoore (NASL) on Wednesday, Jan. 25. These four aircraft will join the recently reactivated Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125, the ―Rough Raiders.― The ―Rough Raiders" is the Navy‘s west coast Fleet Replacement Squadron for the F-35C Lightning II, responsible for training the next generation of Naval Aviators on the aircraft. Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, Commander, Naval Air Forces, Rear Adm. Roy Kelly, director of the Navy F-35 Fleet Integration Office and Jeff Babione, executive vice president and general manager of the F-35 program for Lockheed Martin all spoke at the aircraft arrival ceremony. After the ceremony, pilots and maintainers from VFA-125 were available to answer questions. The F-35C is a single seat, multi-role fighter aircraft designed to eventually replace the F/A-18 legacy Hornet. The Navy‘s future aircraft carrier-based air wings will consist of a mix of F-35C, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA18G Growlers electronic attack aircraft, E-2D Hawkeye battle management and control aircraft, Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) air vehicles, MH-60R/S helicopters and Carrier Onboard Delivery logistics aircraft.
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
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Past, Present and Future jets of NAS Lemoore Commissioned in 1961, the base opened with two types of aircraft, a single engine Page 13 propeller plane known as the A-1 Skyraider and the A-4 Skyhawk, a small, quick jet aircraft nicknamed the ―Mighty Midget‖. In 1966 the A-7 Corsair arrived and served the needs until the early 1980‘s when the first F-18‘s arrived. In July 1998, NAS Lemoore was selected as the West Coast site for the newest strike fighter aircraft, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and in November 1999, NAS Lemoore received its first Super Hornets. The next generation F-35C arrived in February 2018.
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
NAS Lemoore squadrons ―KEEPING AMERICA SAFE‖
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VFA-2 'Bounty Hunters'
VFA-25 'Fist of the Fleet'
VFA-14 'Tophatters'
VFA-41 'Black Aces'
VFA-22 'Fighting Redcocks'
VFA-86 'Sidewinders'
VFA-94 'Mighty Shrikes'
VFA-97 'Warhawks'
VFA-113 'Stingers'
VFA-122 'Flying Eagles'
VFA-125 'Rough Raiders'
VFA-136 'Knighthawks'
VFA-137 'Kestrels'
VFA-151 'Vigilantes''
Living In The Valley – September 2019
VFA-146 'Blue Diamonds'
VFA-147 'Argonauts'
VFA-154 'Black Knights'
VFA-192 'Golden Dragons'
History of the Blue Angels Page 15
73 Years of Aviation Excellence In 1946, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Chester Nimitz, had a vision to create a flight exhibition team in order to raise the public's interest in naval aviation and boost Navy morale. In the 1940's, we thrilled audiences with our precision combat maneuvers in the F6 Hellcat, the F8 Bearcat and the F9 Panther. During the 1950's, we refined our demonstration with aerobatic maneuvers in the F9 Cougar and F-11 Tiger and introduced the first six-plane delta formation, still flown to this day. By the end of the 1960's, we were flying the F-4 Phantom, the only two seat aircraft flown by the delta formation. In 1974, we transitioned to the A-4 Skyhawk, a smaller and lighter aircraft with a tighter turning radius allowing for a more dynamic flight demonstration. In 1986, we celebrated our 40th Anniversary by unveiling the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet, which we still fly to this day. In 1949, it became necessary for the Blue Angels to operate a support aircraft to move personnel and equipment between show sites. These support aircraft including the Douglas R4D Sky Train, the Curtiss R5C Commando, the Douglas R5D Skymaster, and the Lockheed C-121 Super Constellation. In 1970 the team received the Lockheed Martin C-130, affectionately known as "Fat Albert."
1960
1969
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
NAS Lemoore Air Show Schedule Saturday/Sunday, September 21 & 22
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9:45 10:00 10:15 10:30 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:15 11:30 11:50 12:35 12:45 12:55 13:05 13:30 13:50 14:00 14:15 14:30
10:15 10:30 10:45 10:55 11:05 11:15 11:30 11:50 12:35 12:45 12:55 13:05 13:30 13:50 14:00 14:15 14:30 16:00
Announcer on air Delayed Enlistment Oath Horses, Precision Exotics Jumpers/Anthem/CO Remarks A-4 Kent Pietsch Comedy Routine Vicky Benzing Ace Maker CAF Pacific Re-Enactment US Military Air Power Showcase F-35C Kent Pietsch Truck Landing Legacy Flyby Patriots Jet Demo Team John Collver Kent Pietsch Deadstick Landing SAR Demo FOD Walkdown Pause US Navy Blue Angels
Photo courtesy of Jim Fraser Living In The Valley – September 2019
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The 2019 Blue Angels team
A total of 16 officers voluntarily serve with the Blue Angels. Each year the team typically selects three tactical (fighter or fighter/attack) jet pilots, two support officers and one Marine Corps C-130 pilot to relieve departing members. The Chief of Naval Air Training selects the "Boss," the Blue Angels Commanding Officer. Boss must have at least 3,000 tactical jet flight-hours and have commanded a tactical jet squadron. The Commanding Officer flies the Number 1 jet. The Chief of Naval Air Training also selects the "XO," the Blue Angels Executive Officer. XO is a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) and must have at least 1,250 tactical jet flighthours. Career-oriented Navy and Marine Corps jet pilots with an aircraft carrier qualification and a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet flight-hours are eligible for positions flying jets Number 2 through 7. The Events Coordinator, Number 8, is a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) or a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) who meets the same criteria as Numbers 2 through 7. The Marine Corps pilots flying the C-130T Hercules aircraft, affectionately known as "Fat Albert," must be aircraft commander qualified with at least 1,200 flight hours. Career-oriented officers specializing in maintenance, administration, aviation medicine, public affairs and supply fill support positions. The Blue Angels base their selection of officers on professional ability, military bearing and communication skills. Blue Angels officers are well-rounded representatives of their fleet counterparts. Officers typically serve two years with the team. Blue Angels officers return to the fleet after their tours of duty. The mission of the Blue Angels is to showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach.
Living In The Valley – September 2019
Meet the 2019 Blue Angel‘s team Page 18
#1 CAPT ERIC DOYLE | USN Flight Leader Commanding Officer
#2 LT JAMES HALEY | USN Right Wing
#5 LCDR BRANDON HEMPLER | USN #6 LCDR ANDRE WEBB | USN Lead Solo Opposing Solo
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
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Meet the 2019 Blue Angel‘s team Page 19
CDR MATT KASLIK | USN Executive Officer
CAPT BEAU MABERY | USMC C-130 "Fat Albert" Pilot
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LCDR AARON B. HICKS | USN Flight Surgeon
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
The Sentinel Salutes all the Women and Men Who Bravely Serve This Nation
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A special thank you to everyone who has served at NAS Lemoore. You truly make a difference worldwide and locally.
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Naval Air Station Lemoore contributes more than
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Living In The Valley – September 2019
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Stories of Honor…
The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.” – Judd Gregg Living In The Valley – September 2019
A daring rescue
Harry Zinser led crew on impossible rescue mission in Vietnam
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On Aug. 6, just like every other year for the past 47 years, Harry Zinser and Jim Lloyd spoke over the phone. Few people know it, but both men were part of a daring rescue neither would forget for the rest of their lives. Zinser was born and raised in Michigan. After attending college in Illinois, he was called in the last year of the draft in 1968. At that time, life expectancy in the Vietnam War was 2 ½ months. Hoping to increase his chances of survival, Zinser joined the Navy flight training program — a move that bought him a five-year obligation in the military, instead of the usual two years in the Army draft. He became a helicopter pilot, and his crew had the task of rescuing American jet fighter pilots who were shot down over water or had to eject for various reasons. Zinser has several tales of his time in the war, but none quite like what happened on the night of Aug. 6, 1972. ―I can remember every minute of it by detail,‖ he said. That evening, Zinser, a lieutenant at the time, and his crew landed on a ship called North SAR. Their helicopter, an HH3 Sikorsky, was loaded with secret materials that were to be delivered to the ships. Throughout the war from 1668-1975, Zinser said the Navy had three rescue helicopters working at all times As the rest of the crew headed off to bed after the long day, Zinser decided to walk into the combat information center. There, the chief told him that one of the other helicopters was about to launch into North Vietnam on a rescue mission. Lt. Jim Lloyd, a Navy fighter pilot, was flying when he got shot down over North Vietnam around 7:30 p.m. He had not been found for several hours. Zinser was caught off guard. He said the helicopters never went over land, they only picked up pilots that were already in the water or had made their way to the water. The helicopter on South SAR was the closest to land, but when calls coming over the radio asked if the crew had launched, someone answered that the helicopter was down. Zinser later learned that when the helicopter was plugged in to power it to start, too much juice was given and the instruments blew out. Zinser was told his crew would launch. While they were on their way to get more fuel for the rescue mission, Lloyd finally came over the radio to say he was alive.
The crew of the HH3 stands with Lt. Jim Lloyd, the Navy jet pilot they rescued from enemy territory. From left: AE3 Douglas Ankey, AMHAN Matthew Szymanski, Lt. Harry Zinser, Lt. Jim Lloyd, Lt. Bill Young. Living In The Valley – September 2019
A daring rescue continued Page 26
After refueling, the helicopter, guided by Navy jets, headed toward land with one hour‘s worth of gas. The odds of a successful rescue were stacked against them. Most pilots ejected over the dangerous area were either killed or captured.
The crew was quiet, but Zinser said he was asked to say a prayer, which he did over the intercom. As they crossed the beach at North Vietnam heading inland, Zinser said everyone was quiet, expecting to be hit with enemy fire at any moment. ―I thought for sure the helicopter would just fall apart — but it didn‘t,‖ he said. ―It was quiet as could be. I was totally surprised.‖
It was an overcast night, so they stayed above the clouds as they reached the ridge of mountains they had to cross. As Zinser looked over the ridgeline, he said he remembered Psalm 121: ―I will look unto the hills from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth.‖ ―Somebody put those words into my heart as I was looking over those hills,‖ Zinser said, his eyes staring off into the distance as he recounts the story. As they came upon a hole in the clouds, Zinser guided the helicopter into a spiral descent. Just then, a flare went off about a half-mile away — a signal to Lloyds position. Zinser said he thought it would be a ―piece of cake‖ to rescue the downed pilot and get out. Then someone yelled to him that it was a trap, the signal had come from the enemy. He took off immediately. Lloyd then told Zinser he was about half a mile north of where the flare had gone off, but he did not use his strobe light in fear that the nearby enemy would see. The crew neared Lloyd‘s location, and something in Zinser‘s gut told him to land the helicopter instead of hover like they usually did. His intuition proved to be right as enemy fire began flying overhead from manually-adjusted anti-aircraft artillery weapons. ―They had a lot of guns down there,‖ he said. ―Had we hovered I wouldn‘t be here today.‖ The crew was able to bring Lloyd on board and they headed out as fast as they could, redlining as they passed the mountain range. As they flew about towards the coastline about 20 miles away, Zinser said he realized the only thing he hadn‘t done was ―jinking‖ — swerving in a zig-zag pattern to avoid being hit by heat-seeking missiles. He jinked hard to the right and a missile flew right by them on the left said. ―It scared the heck out of all of us,‖ he said. Then he jinked to the left, a missile shooting past them on the right side. Finally, the helicopter was ―feet wet,‖ meaning it was over water. After what seemed like forever, the helicopter landed on the nearest ship, the USS Cleveland. Living In The Valley – September 2019
USS Cleveland
A daring rescue continued ―While I was still over land, both fuel low lights had come on. It was kind of scary to see,‖ Zinser said, adding that the low fuel lights were designed to come on when 30 minutes or less of fuel remained.
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―Long story short, by the time we landed, the lights had been on for 20 minutes,‖ he said. There were 12 bullet holes in the helicopter, but no one had gotten hurt. The whole ship was up when they landed and they all spent most of the remaining hours talking into the morning. Zinser and his co-pilot, Lt. Bill Young, both received the Navy Cross, the highest medal given by the military aside from the Medal of Honor. While Zinser said he fully expected to leave the Navy after 5 years, he ended up staying 26 years. ―I had such a good time I stayed in for a career,‖ Zinser said. After he was out of the Navy, Zinser moved to Lemoore and started the NJROTC program at Lemoore High School, where he retired after 18 years. Zinser credits his faith as the thing that kept him going all those years through harrowing events and rescues. ―What‘s the saying, ‗ordinary people doing extraordinary things‘,‖ he said with a smile.
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Kings County welcomes POW‘s
As reported in The Hanford Sentinel Spring 1973
They came home to a hero‘s welcome…bands played, schoolchildren sang and flags fluttered in the breeze as hundreds of Kings County residents cheered and applauded. But the American prisoners of war did not consider themselves heroes. They were military men doing the job they had been trained to accomplish. Many were pilots, their aircraft downed during raids over Vietnam. In Kings County especially, many were Navy pilots who had been homebased at Naval Air Station Lemoore during deployments on carriers in the South China Sea. A total of 90 LNAS-based pilots were listed as captured or missing in action during the years of the Vietnam conflict. The January 27, 1973 signing of the cease-fire agreement in Paris brought to an end years of anxiety, loneliness and fear for those who had been held captive by the North Vietnamese and for their families at home. Kings County‘s involvement with the POW issue dated from the spring of 1965 when two Lemoore pilotsEverett Alveraz and Phillip Butler were the first local men to be shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese. As the war dragged on, more and more LNAS pilots suffered the same fate. Cmdr. Theodore Kopfman was the first POW to return to LNAS in 1973. At his side during the welcoming ceremonies were his wife, Marge, who hadn‘t known for four years whether her husband was alive or not. She was one of the wives who had stumped the Valley on behalf on the POW‘s. Kopfman, a prisoner since 1966, said his worst period of torture came immediately after he was captured. ―It would have been a relief to die,‖ he said. During the early years of captivity, Kopfman recounted, prisoners were at the mercy of their guards, most of whom did not speak English. It was more than just a coincidence, he indicated, that ―one of the worst torturers was seated at the desk in Hanoi reading off the names of prisoners at the Freedom Gate.‖ Yet another Lemoore POW, Cmdr. James H. Hickerson, said on his return home: ―We‘ve been told we are heroes. We don‘t really believe that. We think the real heroes are the men who will not come back, those men who are back and will have the scars of the war for the rest of their lives.‖
Living In The Valley – September 2019
One more roll: NAS Lemoore AMA unveils aviator statue
Page 29
Hundreds gathered to watch Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore‘s Aviator Memorial Association (AMA) unveil its 7-foot tall bronze aviator statue during a ceremony on Oct. 4, 2014 The bronze pilot‘s helmet is clutched to his right hip. With the hint of a smile, his eyes gaze to the northwest, across runway 32-R, to the site where two Navy pilots perished in 2011. ―I loved Matt Lowe. That‘s something I never told him. This statue will remind us of the unspoken love we have for those who share the skies with us,‖ Lt. Cmdr. Erik Kenny, a co-founder of the NAS Lemoore AMA, said during his remarks. Kenny was sharing the skies with pilot Lt. Matt Lowe, and weapons systems officer Lt. Nathan Williams, on April 6, 2011 when the pair‘s F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed on private farmland west of the air station. The loss of two friends and brethren aviators was the impetus behind the memorial‘s creation. The support of dedicated local businessmen, who used their professional contacts and expertise, led the AMA to raise $100,000 in its first year -- twice the organization‘s original goal set in 2013. ―Without your support, this amazing piece of history wouldn‘t be possible. You all make this town the heart of the nation we proudly serve. You did so much to make this happen,‖ Lt. Cmdr. Ben Charles, AMA co-founder, said to local businessmen and fellow board members Travis Lopes, Guy Brautigam and Charlie Meyer. Living In The Valley – September 2019
Page 30
One more roll: NAS Lemoore AMA unveils aviator statue
Photo courtesy of Bill Burris
The 7-foot tall bronze statue stands on a pedestal and is the centerpiece of the memorial site. Benches frame a walkway of donor bricks. In addition to bricks from donors who helped fund the memorial, there are bricks with the names of fallen NAS Lemoore aviators. The newest fallen aviator brick is less than one month old and in honor of Lt. Nathan Poloski, who was killed after a midair collision Sept. 12 between two jets in the far western Pacific Ocean. Following the ceremony, Miriam Kendrick, Poloski‘s mother, knelt down for a closer look at her son‘s brick. She kissed the tips of her fingers before touching her son‘s name. ―I hope my son‘s brick is the last one that has to be placed at this memorial,‖ she said. Kendrick was an invited guest along with other Gold Star Mothers and Families, those who have lost someone who was serving on active duty in the military. Other guests included aviators who served at the air station over the last 53 years, since NAS Lemoore‘s commissioning on July 8, 1961. The ceremony was also attended by a busload of Tulare Brotherhood of Veterans that included men who served in every war since World War II. On the base of the statue is a verse, entitled "One More Roll," written by Cmdr. Jerry Coffee in 1968. It opens with the line, "We toast our hearty comrades who have fallen from the skies, and were gently caught by God's own hand to be with him on High.―
In February of 1966, while flying combat missions over North Vietnam, his RA5-C reconnaissance jet was downed by enemy fire. He parachuted safely but was captured immediately. For the next seven years he was held as a POW in the Communist prisons of North Vietnam. After his repatriation in February, 1973, Jerry returned to operational duties. He retired from active duty in the Navy after 28 years of service. Follow the AMA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NASLEMOOREAMA. Living In The Valley – September 2019
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