USS Firedrake AE14 Did you serve aboard her?
I did from 1968 to 1971. If you served aboard her during this period call or email me.
Phone: 248-770-8859 Email: dave@dazzlingdigital.com
The Photograph Below Is Not For Sale
Dazzling Digital Photography had the priviledge of creating this photo to commemorate Lt. Gordon Sterling and all the other brave men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation. To read the entire story behind this photograph scroll below.
A STERLING HISTORY
Lt. Gordon Sterling
The First United States Army Air Corp pilot KIA/MIA in WWII
On March 15, 1941 Lt. Sterling purchased a Flint built 1941 Buick as he was completing his advanced pilot training in Alabama. He was then assigned to Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii and took his new Buick with him.
On December 7, 1941, the Buick sustained a bullet hole in the windshield during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
During the surprise attack, most of the U.S. planes were destroyed while still sitting on the ground. Four P-36 fighters survived and were readied for action. The pilots mounted their planes, fired up their engines and prepared for the first sortie from Wheeler. At the last moment, one of the pilots, leaving the engine running, jumped out of his plane and ran to replace his ill fitting parachute.
Seeing the rest of the formation beginning to taxi out, Lt. Sterling, who had been standing by hoping to get into the fight, bounded into the empty cockpit of that fourth P-36. He handed his wrist watch to the astonished crew chief and said "See that my mother gets this. I won't be coming back."
He slammed the canopy shut, gunned the plane down the runway and joined
the other three planes in flight.
Hopelessly outnumbered, these four planes engaged the enemy. While shooting
down two enemy planes, Lt Sterling was hit and crashed into the Pacific
Ocean. His body was never recovered. Lt. Sterling became the first United
States of America Army Air Corp Pilot KIA/MIA of WWII.
May we never forget the price paid for our freedom by Lt. Gordon Sterling
and so many others serving in our armed forces.
His 1941 Buick was used in the dedication of The Pearl Harbor Memorial
Highway on December 17, 2001 (Route I-69 between Perry and Flint, Michigan).
This historic vehicle was displayed at the Sloan Auto Fair in 2008.
Lt. Gordon Sterling