- Raleigh Rhodes
Infobox Military Person
name=Raleigh Ernest Rhodes
placeofburial=
caption=
born= birth date|1918|6|26
died= death date and age|2007|11|26|1918|6|26
placeofbirth=Madera, California
placeofdeath=San Jose, California
nickname="Dusty"
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Navy
serviceyears=1941-1961
rank=Commander
unit=Blue Angels
commands=
battles=World War II Korean War
awards=Purple Heart (2)
relations=
laterwork=Prisoner of war Raleigh Ernest Rhodes (
June 26 ,1918 –November 26 ,2007 ), who often went by thenickname of Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, was an AmericanWorld War II combatfighter pilot and the third leader of theBlue Angels flight team. [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-rhodes7dec07,1,4242966.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california "Los Angeles Times" obituary] ,December 7 ,2007 .]Early life
Raleigh Rhodes was born in
Madera, California , on June 26, 1918. His family moved toFresno, California , in 1935. [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-rhodes7dec07,1,4242966.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california "Los Angeles Times" obituary] ,December 7 ,2007 .] Rhodes began taking civilian pilot training as a student atCal State Fresno .Rhodes entered the
United States Navy in 1941.Pilot
Rhodes was a fighter pilot based on board the
USS Enterprise (CV-6) aircraft carrier duringWorld War II . He was shot down and captured by Japanese forces during theBattle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942 in theSolomon Islands .Rhodes spent in the next three years in a Japanese
prison camp . He weighed just 88 pounds when he was released from his capitivity, in which he was starved and beaten, at the end of World War II.Rhodes joined theBlue Angels precision flying team in 1947 after his recovery. (The Blue Angels had been formed byAdmiral Chester Nimitz in 1946..) Rhodes quickly became only the third leader of the Blue Angels.As leader, Rhodes helped the Blue Angels perfect the diamond barrel roll, a complicated aerialmaneuver in which four Blue Angels jets perform a loop in a tight diamond formation before becominginverted at the top of theformation . The Blue Angels quickly became extremely popular with the public.Despite his success with the Blue Angels, Rhodes returned to an active combat roll with the U.S. Navy. He returned to active combat when he flew fighter plane missions from a Navy aircraft carrier during the
Korean War . Following the Korean War, Rhodes was stationed at severalnaval air station s, including theNaval Air Weapons Station China Lake , Monterey and theMarine Corps Air Station Miramar .Rhodes was awarded two
Purple Heart s and threeAir Medals during his twenty years of active duty in the Navy. He retired from the Navy in 1961 at the rank of commander.Rhodes worked as a project planner for
Lockheed Martin facility inSunnyvale, California , for the next 30 years.Death
Raleigh Rhodes died of
lung cancer on November 26, 2007, inSan Jose, California , at the age of 89. He was survived by his wife, Pauline, two daughters and a son.Rhodes' former wife, Betty, died in 2005. His son, Raleigh E. Rhodes Jr., also died of lung cancer in July 2007.
Notes
ee also
References
*cite news |accessdate=2007-12-13
url=http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-rhodes7dec07,1,4242966.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california
title= Raleigh 'Dusty' Rhodes, 1918 - 2007: Combat pilot in two wars led Blue Angels [Obituary]
work=Los Angeles Times
date=December 7 ,2007 *cite web|accessdate=2007-12-15
url=http://www.blueangels.org/Stuff/Rhodes/Dusty_Rhodes/Dusty.htm
title=Dusty Rhodes
publisher=Blue Angels.org*cite book
title=From POW to Blue Angel: The Story of Commander Dusty Rhodes
author=Armstrong, Jim
publisher=University of Oklahoma Press
date=2006
id=ISBN 0-8061-3764-9
url=http://www.blueangels.org/Stuff/Rhodes/Dusty_Rhodes.htm
accessdate=2007-12-15External links
* [http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_7638881 San Jose Mercury News: Raleigh 'Dusty' Rhodes, 89]
* [http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2007/12/06/raleigh_dusty_rhodes_pow_in_wwii_leader_of_blue_angels/ Boston Globe: Raleigh 'Dusty' Rhodes, POW in WWII, leader of Blue Angels]
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