NOTAM 09-2012 Iglesias

CAPTAIN Edward Iglesias, USN, (Ret)

Golden Eagle Emeritus

Dear Golden Eagles,

It is my sad duty to report that CAPT Edward Iglesias, USN, (Ret) made his Last Take-Off on 25 July 2012 at his home in San Clemente, CA at the age of 91. In keeping with his wishes his family conducted a private ceremony of interment at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on 6 August 2012. He is survived by his wife Nancy; sons George and Timothy Iglesias and Andrew Johnson; his daughters Anne Feldman, Patricia McDonnell, Kay Field, Kimberly Gonzales, and Juliet Chase; and by 9 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

CAPT Iglesias was one of eleven children of Santiago Iglesias, a noted Puerto Rican politician and labor organizer who served as the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner in the House of Representatives from 1933 to 1939. Thus, it was in Washington, DC that Ed spent most of his formative years. Ed was inspired to seek a career in aviation in 1928 after seeing Charles Lindbergh fly over San Juan, Puerto Rico as part of a goodwill tour following his solo flight to Paris.

After the outbreak of WWII, Ed began flight training in 1943 and received his wings of gold in 1944. He was then assigned to VF 47 flying F6F’ s embarked on the USS Bataan ( CVL 29) for combat operations in the Pacific. It was during the period from March through May 1945 that he was credited with four air-to-air kills ( two Zeke’s and two Tojo’s ) while destroying fifteen enemy aircraft on the ground. Just prior to the conclusion of hostilities he flew missions over Japan dropping supplies to American prisoners of war. He also participated in the fly-over of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese formally surrendered to the Allies. For his superb combat performance he was awarded the DFC and six Air Medals.

Following the war, Ed served in the Latin American Flight Training Program as an instructor in various aircraft including the R4D and the R5D. This tour was followed by other training assignments until 1953 when he was assigned to VF 84 flying the F9F5 embarked on the USS Champlain. He then had his first ship’ s company tour as part of the Commissioning Crew for the USS Forrestal (CVA 59) in 1957. He returned to the training world as first a flight instructor in Corpus Christi and then as part of the staff of the Advanced Training Command. Orders to the Naval War College followed. After successful completion of the course of curriculum in 1960, he was assigned as Commanding Officer of VF 103 flying the F8U2 embarked on the USS Forrestal ( CVA 59 ). He was then selected to command VF 174, the F8 RAG at NAS Cecil Field which he led successfully from 1962-1963. A follow on tour at the Naval War College was next which preceded his next tour with the staff of CARDIV TWO from 1965-1967. He was then screened for deep draft command and took command of the USS Pictor ( AF54 ) in 1967 where the ship operated in the Pacific Theater in support of operations in the Viet Nam War. His final tour on active duty was with the Chief of Naval Aviation Basic Training in Pensacola where he retired in 1969.

Following retirement, Ed had a very active and adventurous career as an Aviation Consultant, Aircraft Accident Investigator, and Aviation Insurance Adjuster. He worked from his Los Angeles base and operated in Central and South America and Mexico investigating general aviation accidents and retrieving damaged or stolen aircraft, which had been used in the drug trade, from remote dirt airstrips. During this sixteen year second career, he flew a wide variety of different aircraft types and added considerable flight time to an already impressive record of flying achievement. He flew his last flight on 12 July 1987 and capped off a flying career which included 14,098 flight hours and 752 carrier arrested landings.

Ed was a man of great humility who led from the cockpit. He was greatly admired by seniors and juniors for his exceptional piloting skills, and he was extremely proud of his selection to the Golden Eagles in 2004. We have lost another member of the Greatest Generation. He will be missed.

Sadly,

Fred Lewis-Pilot