Navy Wings of Gold

Preface

The opening chapters of Navy Wings of Gold were written so my family would have a personal record of those dramatic years. These chapters include my memories and those of my brother, Charles W. Robinson, Lieutenant USNR. He served as engineering officer on the heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa during the attack on the German gun batteries above Utah Beach at Normandy on D-Day.

Another member of our family, whose story is included, is my brother-in-law, John Jaqua, Captain USMCR, a pilot with Marine Squadron VB-233. Pilots of VB-233 flew throughout the fight for the Solomon islands, the most costly aerial campaign of the entire Pacific war.

Joan Robinson, my loving wife and closest friend, wrote the final chapter from the perspective of a Navy pilot’s wife. She lived those historic years and knows all of the men of whom I write.

As the work progressed, I decided to expand the book to include the stories of some of my flying associates. This, I realized, would give the manuscript a valuable historic and heroic dimension. Their stories were not easy to recover. I had lost contact with some of these Navy pilots for over a half-century. Through various searches, I was eventually able to locate all of them and gather the information I sought. None were willing to write in great detail. But through visits, notes, telephone calls, and some tape recording sessions, I finally was able to prepare the material with assurance as to its accuracy. There has been reward in the telling of their stories, for these men were true heroes, who miraculously survived the deadly contest. I know that even though their time in history has passed, their personal accounts will not now also pass into that vast pit of lost memories.

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Navy Wings of Gold was first published in 2001 by River Park Press and distributed primarily through a web site created by Daybreak Press in Eugene, Oregon. During the past two years, minor changes were made in the original manuscript, along with the addition of important new information on the development of air-to-ground missiles. The original account mentioned, but not by name, the Caltech scientist who directed the first missile experiments. Through a series of coincidences and persistent research, that Caltech project director was identified and found. He is Dr. Emory Ellis who now resides in Santa Maria, California. This ninety-eight-year-old pioneer scientist reports: Lieutenant F. W. Robinson flew out of the newly commissioned Inyokern Naval Auxiliary Air Station on December 3, 1943 to fire, under my direction, the first air-to-ground rockets. This historic firing is listed in the official logs, which are still in my possession.

This, along with the finding of the VC-7 Navy flight squadron logs on file in Washington D.C., have been keys to now verifying the origins of the early air-to-ground missile development and their initial deployment by the U. S. Navy during World War II. It was important to establish with validity a history that had never before been recorded.

In 2004, a chapter was added that tells the story of Nat “Blackie” Adams. Nat was one of the four Hellcat fighter pilots who flew air cover for Lt. (jg) George Bush on the fateful day a future president of the United States was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. “Blackie” brings added personal perspective to Bush’s aerial attack on that major Japanese communication center on Chichi Jima and the amazing rescue that followed. This eye-witness account, and the identification of the Hellcat fighter pilots involved, is the first ever published.

During February, 2004, a preliminary copy of Chapter 19, the Nat Adams story, was sent to the senior President George Bush for verification and approval. A couple of his suggestions were incorporated in the final manuscript, along with his gracious approval for the use of his picture in the cockpit of his Avenger bomber.

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The World War II generation experienced more technical and social change than any other generation in history. From World War I, when the United States matured as a world power, to a few years later when the trauma, upheaval, and sheer despair of the Great Depression hit, the people struggled for equilibrium. Unprepared, this generation was called to fight for the preservation of America’s freedom, a freedom being challenged by dictatorial powers that sought control of the world. Men and women imbued with patriotism and courage, embarking on their foundation of traditional values, went out to meet the enemy. Along with the pain, suffering, and loss, an element of adventure, a community of purpose, an optimism, and a discipline were all carried to the engagement. These are values to which some of the following generations are taking a new look. It is my hope that these memories will contribute in a personal way to their understanding.

F. Willard Robinson