Randolph Myers Jr.

My father Randolph Myers Jr. passed away on June 30, 2020. He was 99 years old. After graduating from Saint Francis College, my father enlisted in the United States Navy at the beginning of World War II, where he learned to fly and became a fighter pilot in the Pacific, serving aboard USS Hancock, the aircraft carrier with the nickname “The Fightin’ Hannah.” During one combat strafing mission, his Corsair fighter was shot down and after spending many hours in the water in his inflated liferaft, was rescued by a U.S. destroyer. After the war he continued to serve in the Navy and flew two-engine P-2 Neptunes and four-engine P-3 Orions on maritime patrols in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. His last duty assignment was commanding officer of the Naval Reserve Training Center at Adelphi, Md. In 1967, he retired as a captain. He was decorated with the Air Medal with two Gold Stars, Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Star, Asiatic-Pacific Medal with two Battle Stars, and seven other ribbons. He was a member of American Legion Post 363 in Ebensburg, Pa.