CREW'S STORIES
RETURN TO:
Ronald W. Morgan (Ron) - OC Div 1961-62
Dear Bill:
As an airtraffic controller I was assigned to the Operations Dept., OC Div., 1961-62. The Skipper then was a very colorful Irish gentleman named Capt. John Ferguson. The Bennington Air Group carried two S2F squadrons, one ASW helecopter Sqdn, a Det of 4 AEW AD5 aircraft. Ship had its' own C-1 for COD Flights. My Division Officer, LT. Mathis was one of the pilots involved in the low altitude Para-insertion of a Marine Pathfinder Group; in which one of the Marines was tangled up in his static line. A photo was taken of him trailing behind the aircraft. This photo reached several news agencies and adventure magazines. The Assistant Air Boss CDR Wendorf was the other pilot. I believe he was a WWII hero. The CDR was a young naval officer and received the Naval Cross for dropping a bomb down the stack of a Japanese cruiser.
I left the Bennington for assignment to the USS Kearsarge (CVS33). Later assignments were: NATTC Glynco, GA; NAS Point Mugu. NAS Atsugi, Japan; TACRON-21, USNAB Little Creek, VA. Prior to the Bennington I was assigned to: NALF Crows Landing; NAS Moffett Field; NAS Agana, Guam; NAF Monterey, CA:
I retired in Jan 1974. Entered college for 3-years and started working for Bendix Field Engineering on a NASA contract in Space Projects Dept., at the Ames Lab, Moffett Field as a mission controller & supervisor. Later on I went on to Lockheed Missiles and Space, Co. (now Lockheed/Martin); as part of the Mission Control team for the Space Shuttle and its' payloads.
I retired from Lockheed in 1992.
I do have a Bennington WestPac cruise book. If needed I can scan some of the photos and send them. The cruise book has Ship's Crew, the Air Group, Squadrons, Destroyer Squadron, and of course the Task Force Staff.
Here's my Infomation:
Ronald W. Morgan (Ron)
744 El Sombroso Drive
San Jose, CA 95123
(408) 225-8194
E-mail: rwmorgan@earthlink.net
Operations Dept.
OC Div 1961-62
Best regards, Ron
RETURN TO:
