CDR John Carlyle DAVIS II, USN (Ret), Golden Eagle Emeritus
 

Gentlemen,
 
It is my sad duty to inform you that on Saturday, 31 August 2024, Golden Eagle Emeritus CDR John Carlyle “JC” DAVIS II, USN (Ret), made his Last Take Off in Port Townsend, WA. His wife Claudia and his daughters were in attendance in the days prior to his passing, after a valiant fight against prostate cancer.
 
JC was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 20 July 1941 to Rolland and Anna Davis. He grew up in Wyoming, Ohio, a suburb located just north of Cincinnati and attended and graduated from Wyoming High School. He attended college at Brown University where he was a member of the Delta Phi fraternity and in the Reserve Officers Training Corps. After graduation in June 1963, JC began his Navy career. His first duty assignment was TAD to USS Telfair (APA 210), homeported in Norfolk, VA, in June 1963 while awaiting the start of flight school.
 
He commenced flight training in October 1963 in Pensacola, Florida, and earned his Wings of Gold in Texas, on 19 February 1965. In the training command he flew the T-34B Mentor, T-2 Buckeye, F-9F Cougar, and F-11A Tiger. His next set of orders took him to VA-125 in Lemoore, CA, for transition training in the A-4E Skyhawk. As a “must pump,” he completed training in July 1965 and immediately reported to VA-164 Ghostriders, deployed aboard USS Oriskany (CVA 34) in the waters off Vietnam. Four days after leaving VA-125, the RAG, his first sortie with VA-164 was a combat mission, loaded with 2 Mk 83s and four Mk 82s. While in VA-164 he served as the Personnel Officer and the NUC Weapons Training Officer.
 
As many recall, this was a time of high operational tempo for aircraft carriers and carrier air wings, and obviously personnel. In his two-year tour with the Ghostriders, from August 1965 to September 1967, JC joined the squadron while deployed and made two other deployments to Vietnam. His first deployment concluded in December 1965, his second was from May to November 1966, and his third was from June to September 1967 (when JC transferred to his next duty assignment), all aboard USS Oriskany.

The second deployment was shortened by the tragic fire aboard Oriskany, where 44 men died, 4 of them being VA-164 pilots. One of those pilots was the Executive Officer of VA-164, the father of Golden Eagle Rodger WELCH. On that same deployment, in August, JC sustained a major hit in the wing of his A-4E, forcing a landing gear down bingo to Da Nang, and three air-to-air refuelings en route. His airmanship was recognized with an individual Air Medal. In another test of airmanship skills, in September, on a dark night after a series of fouled deck waveoffs, JC called the ball with 100 pounds of fuel remaining and got another fouled deck wave off. He immediately went into a VFR pattern, at night, landed, and shutdown with a zero-fuel indication on his fuel gauge. In JC’s words, it was the best flying he had ever done. In his third and final deployment with the Ghostriders, just prior to departure from the squadron, he was awarded his first Distinguished Flying Cross for an Iron Hand mission where he engaged a SAM site, then double cycled to lead an Alpha strike on the same target.
 
JC’s next assignment in September 1967 was to VA-122, the replacement training squadron for the A-7A/B Corsair II, where he served as an instructor pilot and Enlisted Maintenance Replacement Training Officer. In June 1969, JC left the Navy to join American Airlines flying the 727. In May 1970, he came back to the Navy reporting to VA-122 as a fleet replacement pilot in the A-7E. In November 1970 he joined VA-94, the Mighty Shrikes, flying the A-7E. Deploying in November 1971 aboard USS Coral Sea (CVA 43), JC returned to Vietnam combat operations, again displaying his expertise with the awarding of two Distinguished Flying Crosses and placing second in the carrier air wing in landing grades for the entire cruise. This deployment, near the end of the Vietnam war, also included the mining campaign against principal North Vietnamese ports, beginning in May 1972 that in the next eight months planted over 11,000 mines. The squadron returned home in July 1972.
 
Leaving the Mighty Shrikes in February 1973, JC attended the Naval Postgraduate School (NPGS) in Monterey, CA. After two years at NPGS, his next assignment was back to Coral Sea in July 1977 as the Air Operations Officer. This tour was followed by stationing in San Diego, CA, at the Navy Tactical Interoperability Support Activity for an almost 4-year tour. His final operational tour was aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) as the Combat Direction Center Officer beginning in February 1982. During his time aboard, Kitty Hawk was awarded the Battle “E,” under the command of fellow-Golden Eagle Dave ROGERS. In July 1984 JC retired from the Navy, culminating a 21-year career.
 
Starting as a “must pump” nugget, JC experienced a significant portion of the Vietnam War, from the mid 60s through 1972. In his career, he accumulated 4,377 flight hours, 612 carrier arrested landings, four combat deployments, and 354 combat missions. He was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses, six Air Medals, 32 Strike/Flight Air Medals, and three Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V.” Without question, he was an attack pilot who could, and did, do it all.
 
After retirement from the Navy, in 1984, JC joined Hughes/Raytheon as a computer engineer. In 2001 he got back into the cockpit flying Learjets for Flight International performing the former composite squadron mission of towing targets supporting Navy training, including gunnery targets for F/A-18s in Lemoore. His last flight, a week after his 66th birthday, was doing a 100-ft Close in Weapons System (CIWS) run for a surface combatant … in his words, “what a kick!”
 
JC fully retired in 2007 to Port Townsend, WA, where he enjoyed the company of good friends and his rescue Collie dogs. Through the years, he kept in close contact with high school classmates, fraternity brothers, and VA-164 squadron mates, attending many reunions.
 
JC was preceded in death by his first wife Corrine and his sisters, Nancy Bumiller and Polly Davis. He is survived by his wife Claudia, and his daughters, Jennifer Rayle (Nathan), and Dr. Alexis Davis (Dr. Allen Namath); his sister Faith Davis Lee; his four grandchildren and his nieces and nephews.
 
Services for JC will be on 24 September 2024 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1020 Jefferson St., Port Townsend, WA. He will be put to rest at the Davis Family Plot at Spring Grove Cemetery, 4521 Spring Grove Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, on 25 October 2024, with full military honors. In remembrance of his life, please consider a contribution to Southwest Collie and Sheltie Rescue, SWCSRescue.com.
 
He will be missed.
 
In sadness,
Marty Chanik
Pilot