AIR COMMANDO 2 Guilmartin, John Francis,Jr

John Robertson

Administrator
Staff member
  • SURNAME
Guilmartin

  • FORENAME
John Francis,Jr

  • UNIT
38 Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (3 A.R.R. Group)

  • RANK
Captain

  • NUMBER

  • AWARD
Silver Star with oak leaf cluster

  • PLACE
Laos and North Vietnam 1967-68

  • ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
born 18.9.1940 Chicago,Illinois
son of John Francis and Katherine (nee Douglas) Guilmartin
grew up San Antonio,Texas
graduated Texas Military Institute 1957
graduated USAF Academy 1958-62
helicopter pilot
2 tours of Vietnam
38 ARRS 1967-68
40 ARRS 1975
retired 1983 as Lieutenant Colonel
awards Legion of Merit,Silver Star with oak leaf cluster,Air Medal with 5 oak leaf clusters
married 8.3.1966 (divorced 8.6.1987) (2 daughters Lore and Eugenia)
married Hannelore (1 stepdaughter Karla Vick,1 stepson Kurt Vick)
died 10.3.2016 Columbus,Ohio
cremated
He graduated from US Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training in 1963 and from the Air Force Helicopter School in 1964. The bulk of his operational career, he served as a helicopter pilot with the Air Rescue Service, including two Southeast Asia tours based in Thailand. During the first, in 1965-66, he logged some 130 combat missions over Laos and North Vietnam as an HH-3E "Jolly Green" helicopter pilot charged with rescuing American aviators shot down in enemy territory. During his second tour, in 1975, he flew HH-53C "Super Jolly Greens" including participation in Operation Frequent Wind, the 29-30 April Saigon Evacuation, flying from the attack carrier USS Midway. His crew and wingmen took out some 500 evacuees in twelve sorties and fired the last American shots of the Vietnam War, suppressing enemy anti-aircraft fire on their final run-in. Between Southeast Asia tours, he attended Princeton University under Air Force sponsorship, earning his MA and PhD in History in 1968 and 1971 respectively, before serving on the History Faculty of the US Air Force Academy during 1970-74. The balance of his Air Force career was in Air Rescue Service Flying and Staff assignments, followed by a tour at Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, where he was Editor of the Air University Review, the professional journal of the US Air Force. He retired from active duty in 1983 as a Lt. Colonel and senior pilot. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, two Silver Stars and the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters. Following retirement, he served on the faculties of the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and Rice University, Houston, Texas, where he also served as Director of The Space Shuttle History Project working under a Rice University contract with the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. He joined the Ohio State University History Department in 1987 where he remained until his death. While at Ohio State, he supervised 26 doctoral students through to completion of the PhD. He published widely on military history, medieval and early modern naval history, airpower history and the history of the Vietnam War. During these years, he held the Charles Lindberg Chair at the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., was a guest lecturer and Visiting Professor at West Point, and took part in and presented papers and lectures with the International Commission of Military Historians in locations all over the world for many years. Dr. Guilmartin recently received the prestigious Goodpaster Prize, awarded by the American Veteran's Institute and The Bradley Foundation, as "Outstanding Soldier-Scholar," amongst many other awards and honors. Additionally, the Joe Guilmartin Scholarship for World War II Study Abroad was graciously funded in his name for OSU students by admirers of his teachings.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top