User:Muchadou/Jack Mason Gougar

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LCDR. Jack Mason Gougar
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branchUnited States Navy
Years of service1/10/1941-3/1/1968
RankLieutenant Commander
UnitUSS Yorktown CV-5, USS Hornet CV-8, USS Sangamon CVE-26, Blue Angels
Battles/warsBattle of Midway, Battle of the Coral Sea, World War II, Vietnam War, Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
Awards3 Air Medals, 3 Presidential Unit Citations, 10 Battle Stars (Asiatic-Pacific Campaign), Good Conduct Medal with 3 stars, Atlantic Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Vietnamese Friendship Citation, 1000 Hour Accident-Free Flight Instructor Hour Award, 5000 Hour Accident-Free Flight Award. Commanding Officers Commendation for work with Enlisted Men, Saufley Field. Commanding Officers Commendation for Re-Enlistment Program. Congressional Letter of Commendation; Senator Mike Mansfield, Montana

US Naval Career

Miscellaneous

  • Enlisted in the US Navy on January 10, 1941 as a Seaman.
  • He served as radio man/gunner aboard torpedo bombers off of several aircraft carriers during World War II.[1]
  • He was one of the last enlisted pilots (Mustangs) before the Navy required all pilots to accept commissions.[1]
  • He flew one of the last planes out of Saigon, Vietnam as it fell to the Viet Cong. [1]

Memories

These memories were submitted by LCDR. Jack Gougar to the Blue Angel Alumni Association and published on their website[2].

"I was voted into the Team at the end of the 1965 season. I served as the Plane Commander and Maintenance Officer for the 1966-67 Seasons. We trained at Litchfield Park (Goodyear, Arizona) for the '66 season, and that's where a caper with Grandfather happened. I never told this tale to any of the Blues sailors before, because I never wanted them to know how I 'got even' with them, but I guess I can let the cat out of the bag now. Here's what happened:

It was cold out on the desert in the early morning when we launched the first practice flight. After the Team took off, I went into the Maintenance Shack. It was unbearably hot in there. I sat down in a chair and, being a victim of mild narcolepsy, I fell asleep. Our leading chief, Chief Black, seized a golden opportunity. He gathered the crew into formation, and while they saluted their alert maintenance officer, took my picture for posterity.

Of course, I couldn't let that incident pass without proper retaliation, so I plotted revenge. I checked with Grandfather and the "Boss", Commander Aumack, and they both agreed wholeheartedly with my plan. One day, I asked Grandfather if he would like to take a hop with me in the Cougar. He agreed, while the sailors hooted and told me I would never do it. I was too 'old' (45 at that time). I got out the Cougar manual and boned up so I wouldn't embarrass myself trying to start the Cougar engine. I had never flown a jet before. When I felt I was ready, I asked Grandfather if he would like to take that hop. He donned a parachute, and we boarded the plane. I fired up and taxied to the far end of the runway. It had a rise in the middle of it, so the far end couldn't be seen from the Maintenance Shack. I stopped while Grandfather got out, and the Boss got in.

Then it got sticky. Commander Aumack said, 'You got yourself into this. Now get yourself out!' He made me fly the plane. There was no wind, so I took off from that spot, then reversed course and made landing approaches so as to touch down right in front of the sailors standing in front of the shack. To my surprise, the Cougar was easier to handle than the old prop jobs I was used to. The only problem I had was slowing that beast down for landing. On my first approach, I floated quite a way down the runway before touchdown, and the sailors were sure I was going to crash, making my revenge all the sweeter. I made two more touch and go's, then landed at the far end of the runway. The Boss got out, and Grandfather got back in. We taxied and parked back in front of the Maintenance Shack, and in front of the sailors, Grandfather got out and said, 'Thanks, Jack.... that was great!'"

1966 Blue Angels Crew

"As you know, it has been tradition to fly the American Flag out of the transport when it parked at air show sites. My crew began that tradition when Chief Black came to me one day and asked if the crew could hoist "Old Glory" through the astrodome of the C54. Later, I was sent a state flag from the Illinois Governor's Office to fly whenever we held an air show in his state."

"While in Monmouth, Illinois, I stayed in a motel right across the street from a gas station. I saw a 1923 Chevrolet Touring Car over there. I went over to admire it, for I had puttered around with one just like it when I was a boy. The station owner handed me the keys and told me to take it for the weekend. I paraded around in that grand old car for two days: "King of the Road!""

"The F-11 Tiger was being "phased out." Parts were getting hard to find, and the crew was magnificent in keeping the Tiger airborne. We had no spare aircraft. One time, enroute to the West coast, the Team stopped off at Litchfield Park. During take-off, #4 caught a wire stretched across the runway and wound up off to the side with the plane out of commission. We got a replacement off the desert where they were stored. Later, during another trip west, I stopped off at Litchfield while the crew canabalized the wrecked Tiger for parts."

"On another occasion, this time in Atlanta, #6 (Norm Gandia) couldn't lower his starboard gear for landing. It was at the end of a practice flight, and there wasn't time to foam the runway. He made a beautiful touch-down and only damaged the starboard wing tip. I jumped into the C54, flew to Pensacola for a replacement part (the paint was still wet and the wing tip had to b handled carefully), and got back to Atlanta in time for the crew to repair Norm's aircraft for the next day's show."

File:Blue Angels 1966 Crew 2.jpg
1966 Blue Angels Crew

"We literally had a "license to steal." There was a fenced in area at NAS Pensacola where rare and hard to get aircraft parts were stored. Access to the area was allowed only with special permission, and was guarded. A pass was issued to our crew allowing us to scale the fence during off hours to get any parts from there that we needed for the tiring Tiger."

"The crew had a merry time traveling in the "Lead Sled" or "Aluminum Overcast" as Navy 8 was affectionately known. I always had plenty of help flying the old bird, with sailors poking their heads into the cockpit to offer advice. When the plane was washed down, the wheel wells would get wet. This caused the fire warning light to come on briefly as we taxied out. One day, Chief Black poked his head into the cockpit, pointed to the red warning light, and wanted to know what I was going to "do about it." "If it hurts my eyes, I'll take the bulb out," I told him. The Chief returned to his seat in a huff!"

"The men had a betting pool going. Men would make a mark on the C54 tire and initial it. When we parked, the mark closest to the ground would win the lucky sailor that trip's pool."

"The Old Bird was getting tired, and I became concerned about its reliability. And, too, we had to fly through all kinds of weather, since it was unpressurized and we couldn't go over the top. One time, during a flight up the west coast, we got into icing conditions so severe I couldn't get the ice off the wings with the de-icer boots. We finally iced up so badly I had to lose altitude to stay airborne. Fortunately, the ice melted off as we descended to warmer temperatures, and before we hit any of the mountains."

"Prior to the North Africa/European tour in 1967, I wasn't feeling well and asked the Boss, CDR. Bill Wheat, to replace me. Rightly enough, he told me to go to Aviation Medicine for a check-up. After checking me over, AVMED gave me the green light, telling me I was okay, probably just tired. The Old Lead Sled and I were both wearing out."

"We had to go to NAS Brunswick, Maine, for refueling enroute to North Africa. On the way in, we had to shut down #1 engine. It was making funny noises and rattled the instrument panel. I called ahead and told the Brunswick Tower that we were coming in on three engines, but there was no emergency. To my chagrin, every emergency vehicle on the field chased me down the runway as we landed. I turned out that the Officer in Charge of the Crash Crew was an old buddy of mine, and did it just to get my goat! He said his crew needed the practice."

"While in Tunis, Tunisia, a funny pantomime took place. I was sitting in the lobby of the posh Tunis Hilton. It was a large spacious area replete with plush carpet and all the trimmings. As I sat there, a regal lady, dripping with jewelry, came strolling through followed by an entourage of valets with baggage and two large Afghan hounds on leashes. As the group arrived at the limo parked outside, a valet unleashed one of the dogs. It promptly ran back inside, left a "message" right in the center of the beautiful red carpet, then trotted back outside to get into the limo. Out of nowhere came someone with a "pooper scooper", picked up the mess, and calmly departed. All this time, not a word was spoken. It was just like an old time silent movie."

"Enroute from Tunis to Turkey, the #1 engine on the Old Bird started making funny noises again. I told the navigator to pick out the nearest field, in case we had to divert. I didn't want to spend any more time over water than I had to with all the sailors aboard. The #1 engine finally gave out, and we diverted to the Island of Rhodes, Greece. We were on the ground just overnight when my left lung gave out. Our flight surgeon, Dr. Lucey, was with us and arranged for X-rays at a local medical office. While waiting to go, a knock came on the door to my room. I called, "come in," and in walked a beautiful lady. It was Ruth Roman, a famous American actress of that time. She said she just wanted to mee me, because she had heard about me from the sailors out front. She stayed with me until after my x-rays, then, when she got back to the States, she contacted my wife and told her I would be coming home.

The doc and I bummed our way back to Pensacola, and I turned in at the Naval Hospital. I was told my case was inoperable, and that I had six months to live. To avoid boring details, the bottom line -- a surgeon brand new to the Navy appeared on the scene just in the nick of time and operated on that lung. However, he said my right lung was in terrible shape and that it would go out in about two years. I retired, and two years later, almost to the day, my right lung gave out, and I had to go in for surgery again.

But, I had outwitted them all, because now -- at the end of 1998 -- I just passed my 78th birthday!

"

"I went over the side of the U.S.S. Yorktown (CV5) during the Battle of Midway"

"I was flying off the U.S.S. Hornet (CV8) during the Battle of Santa Cruz (I was turret gunner in a TBF, and my pilot was and Aviation Pilot-first class)"

Timeline

The following was written by LCDR Jack Gougar and submitted to the Blue Angel Alumni Association and published on their website[2].

  • January 10, 1941 - March 1, 1941 -- Great Lakes Naval Training Station (USNTS) - Seaman Recruit
  • March 1, 1941 - June 1941 -- NAS San Diego, CA, Aviation Radio School, Seaman Second Class
  • June 1941 - August 1941 -- Temporary duty with Scouting Squadron Five at NAS Nolfolk, VA.
  • August 1941 - June 4, 1942 -- USS Yorktown (CV-5) - Torpedo Squadron Five. Aviation Radioman/Gunner, TBD Douglas Devastator. Witnessed sinking of USS Lexington (CV-2) during the Battle of Coral Sea (5/8/42). Yorktown damaged. Temporary duty Torpedo Squadron Three during the Battle of Midway. Survived sinking of the USS Yorktown. Seaman First Class, Radioman 3C, Aviation Radioman 3C.
  • June 1941 - October 26, 1942 -- NAS Kaneohe Bay, USS Hornet (CV-8) Torpedo Squadron Six. Aviation Radioman/Gunner, TBF Avenger. Crew member for Evan K. Williams, Naval Aviation Pilot First Class. Witnessed sinking of USS Wasp (CV-7) 9/15/42. Torpedoed Japanese heavy cruiser during the battle of Santa Cruz, 10/26/42. Landed aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6) following the sinking of the Hornet. Aviation Radioman Second Class
  • January 1943 - March 1943 -- NAS Seattle, CASU Seven, Croaton detail at McChord Army Air Base, Tacoma, WA. Aviation Radioman in SO3C Curtiss Seamew Scout aircraft.
  • April 1943 - April 1944 -- USS Sangamon (CVE-26) Composite Squadron VC37. Aviation Radioman/Turret Gunner in TBM Avenger aircraft. Married Florence Catherine Campbell, 5/15/43, at NAS Alameda Chapel. Squadron training at NAAS Monterey, CA, NAS Los Alamitos (Long Beach), CA, and NAAS Holtville, CA. While at Los Alamitos, ditched at sea off San Clemente Island on my birthday, 9/29/43. Crew member for Ensign Evan K. Williams. Participated in action at Kwajelein, Eniwetok, Tarawa, Hollandia, New Guinea.
  • May 1944 - May 1945 -- Radio Tech "B" School at Herzl Junior College, Chicago. Texas A & M College Station, TX. NTTC Ward Island Corpus Christi, TX.
  • May 1945 - July 1947 -- Flight Training - St. Olaf College (Northfield, MN), Pre-flight School at University of Georgia (Athens, GA). It was during my stay at U of GA that the war ended. I was on duty in the Duty Office. Adjacent to us was the Telephone Exchange. The operator came bursting in with the news that the war was over. I gave her a list of key people to notify. A cadet was on duty with me. In a very short time, the CO of Pre-flight School was came rushing in asking if the exec had been in. Of course, I replied in the negative. Not long after that, the exec showed up and asked if the skipper had been in. I replied "yessir". Exec: "What did he say?" I replied that the skipper had said to give everyone three days off. The cadet with me almost had cardiac arrest. As soon as we were alone, he excitedly told me I couldn't say that. I replied "watch me." A short time later, the skipper came in with "has the exec come in yet?" I replied "yessir." Skipper: "What did the exec say?" I replied, "He said to give everyone three days off." To this day, no one but the frantic cadet and my close friends ever knew that a sailor had given the entire Pre-Flight School a modest vacation to celebrate the War's end. Daughter Leslee Joan born 8/5/45 in Winchester, MA. University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA), Primary training at NAS Memphis, TN, N2S aircraft. Basic training at NAS Corpus Christi, TX, SNJ aircraft. Intermediate training at NAS Pensacola, FL, SNJ, PBY aircraft. Graduated Aviation Pilot First Class, 4/27/47. Son Jon born at Pensacola Naval Hospital, 7/15/47. February 1942, the executive officer of our squadron, Lt. H.T. Johnson, went down in the Pacific, was captured by the Japanese, and spent almost the entire war in a prison camp. In April, 1947, Commander H.T. Johnson, as Superintendent of Training, pinned my wings on me. To my astonishment, he remembered me and gave special contratulations....a treasured memory. His second seat man, Chief Naval Aviation Pilot Chuch Fosha, was, of course, a prisoner too. Twenty years and two months later, Commander Fosha, as NAS Pensacola Personnel Officer, signed my retirement papers. Don't you know, those signatures are among my most treasured keepsakes
  • September 1946 - September 1949 -- NAS Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, FASRON 109. Utility Pilot in SNJ, SNB, F6F, R4D aircraft. Daughter Karen born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, 10/31/48. Aviation Pilot first class, Aviation Electronicsman/Aviation Pilot first class, Aviation Chief Electronicsman/Naval Aviation Pilot.
  • November 1949 - December 1951 -- NAS Pensacola, NAAS Corry Field, Pensacola. Attended instructor's basic training unit. Flight instruction in instruments, aerobatics, night flying, SNJ aircraft. Awarded 1,000 hour accident free instructor citation. It was during the "Peace Dividend" under President Truman and Secretary of Defense Johnson that severe cuts in the armed forces were made. Temporary Officers (Mustangs) were demoted to their enlisted ranks, and reserve officers were "riffed." There immediately became a severe shortage of instructors in the Flight Training Command. Enlisted pilots were called in from all over the fleet to fill the gap. Curing that time, we received commendations from both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets for the product we were sending them. I set an all-time record for the number of instructor hours that I flew in one month: 102.
  • December 1951 - September 1953 -- FAETUPAC, NAS San Diego, CA. Anti-sub warfare instructor. P2V3W, R4D, SNB aircraft. Graduate of Naval all-weather flight school at NAS Corpus Christi, TX, Aviation Electronicsman/Naval Aviation Pilot.
  • September 1953 - September 1954 -- MAAG Saigon. Flew as Pilot of SNB-5 aircraft, military advisor to the French. Operated in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. Last American aircraft out of Hanoi, North Vietnam after the fall of Dien Bien Phu. Aviation Electronicsman/Naval Avaition Pilot.
  • September 1954 - September 1955 -- NAAS Barin Field, Foley, AL. Maintenance test Pilot in SNJ aircraft. Aviation Chief Electronicsman/Naval Aviation Pilot. Promoted to Ensign USN9T) 7/2/55.
  • September 1955 - October 1958 -- NAS Pensacola, Florida and NAAS Saufley Field. Attended Instructors Training and qualified as formation flight instructor in SNJ aircraft. Ground training instructor in communications and meteorology. Ground training division officer. Ensign. Promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, 1/2/57.
  • October 1958 - March 1959 -- NAS Memphis, TN. Officer electronics school. Lieutenant Junior Grade.
  • March 1959 - January 1965 -- McGuire AFB, NJ. VR3 Naval Air Transport Squadron Three and EASTAF Operations. Promoted to Lieutenant 8/1/59. Qualified Navigator in C118 aircraft. Qualified Second Pilot 9/14/59. Qualified First Pilot 5/17/60. Qualified Plane Commander in C118 aircraft 3/16/61. Qualified Aircraft Commander in C130 aircraft 7/1/64. Received 5,000 Hour Accident-Free Pilot Award 4/23/62. Lieutenant Junior Grade. Liason Officer for all Air National Guard transport squadrons east of the Mississippi.
  • January 1965 - December 1965 -- NAS Pensacola, FL Operations Department. Transport Plane Commander in R4D, C-54 aircraft. Lieutenant. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander 3/1/65.
  • December 1965 - September 1967 -- Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Team. Maintenance Officer and C-54 Transport Plane Commander. Lieutenant Commander. While flying from Tunis, Tunisia, to Turkey, experienced #1 engine failure. Landed on the Island of Rhodes, Greece. Suffered a collapsed lung and was returned to the Naval Hospital and given 6 months to live. Outwitted 'em!
  • September 1967 - March 1968 -- NAS Pensacola Maintenance Department awaiting disability retirement. Lieutenant Commander.
  • March 1, 1968 -- Disability Retirement. Lieutenant Commander

Aircraft

Battle of Midway

Serving aboard the USS Yorktown, Jack Gougar spent several hours in the water after it was sunk. [1]

Blue Angels

His last tour of duty was as engineering officer for the Navy Blue Angels.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e http://www.haywardwi.com/record/Obits.php?obit_id_ser=56965&date=2007-01-10
  2. ^ a b http://www.blueangels.org/

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blue Angels.
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