- SURNAME
O'Mara
- FORENAME
Oliver Edward,Jr
- UNIT
38 Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron
- RANK
Captain
- NUMBER
0-2054069
- AWARD
Air Force Cross
- PLACE
North Vietnam 1966
- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
from Alamogordo,New Mexico
born 17.8.1921 Brooklyn,New York
son of Oliver Edward and Mabel Virginia (nee Kearney) O'Mara
awards AFC,DFC with 2 oak leaf clusters,Air Medal with 4 oak leaf clusters,Purple Heart
3 DFCs for SE Asia
married Ruth Helen Slater (1921-2011) (2 daughters Peggy and Susan)
retired 1.9.1970 as Lt Colonel
Airfield Manager,Holloman AFB,Alamogordo,New Mexico (Civil Service) 1971-86
died 1.7.2008 Santa Fe,New Mexico
Santa Fe National Cemetery,Santa Fe,Santa Fe County,New Mexico Section 18 Site 773
Oliver O'Mara was born on August 17, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York. He enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the Army Air Forces on July 24, 1942, and was made a Flight Officer and awarded his pilot wings on November 3, 1943. O'Mara served in the Pacific Theater flying P-51 Mustangs, P-40 Warhawks, and P-47 Thunderbolts on Saipan and Iwo Jima, from December 1943 to September 1945. He flew 32 combat missions in the Pacific and went into the Air Force Reserve after the war. Lt O'Mara was recalled to active duty on March 14, 1953, and then went through helicopter training. He flew as a rescue pilot in Korea from May 1954 to May 1955. O'Mara next served at Foster AFB, Texas, and then at Stead AFB, Nevada, from August 1958 to May 1960. From May 1960 to June 1963, O'Mara served at Yokota AB, Japan. He was then transferred to Hamilton AFB, California, where he served until January 1965, when he was stationed at Orlando AFB, Florida. Maj O'Mara began flying combat missions in Southeast Asia in July 1966, when he was stationed with the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron at DaNang AB in the Republic of Vietnam. He transferred with the squadron to Udorn Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, in November 1966, and left Southeast Asia in June 1967, after having flown 128 combat missions and rescuing 8 downed pilots. He was next assigned to the Directorate of Aircraft and Missile Test at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, where he served from June 1967 until his retirement from the Air Force on September 1, 1970. Oliver O'Mara married Ruth Slater on October 3, 1945, and they had two daughters, Peggy and Susan. LtCol Oliver O'Mara died on July 1, 2008.
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