MAC GORDON: Honoring a hero who trained at Naval Air Station Albany

The recent death of an American patriot who had flight training in southwest Georgia and later was governor of Indiana brought back good memories of Naval Air Station Albany.

Joseph Kernan’s death on July 29 was reported in a full obituary in The New York Times. This was a fitting tribute to the man I knew when I served in the admin office of Reconnaissance Attack Squadron Three, also known locally as “Heavy Three” in military jargon.

Then-Lieutenant Kernan took training at the base for the RA-5C “Vigilante,” a supersonic recon plane used extensively in the Vietnam War. He was among dozens of young Navy fighter pilots who went through NAS Albany in the late 1960s and early ’70s.

Like several others, Kernan, who had flown off the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, was shot down by enemy antiaircraft fire while making a run over North Vietnam in February 1972. Missing in action for several months, it later was discovered that he and his co-pilot, Cmdr. Ron Polfer, had parachuted to safety but were captured by enemy forces.

They were held for almost one year, The Times reported, in the “notorious Hoa Lo Prison, known to captive Americans as the Hanoi Hilton. This is the same POW camp that held Naval aviator John McCain, later a U.S. senator and presidential candidate.”

The prisoners were released in 1973. Kernan finished out his military career until December 1974. Another pilot I vividly recall from Albany was Lt. Alfred Agnew, whose plane also was shot down, and he also was held prisoner.

Kernan, Agnew and more than 500 other Americans were released in early 1973 as part of “Operation Homecoming,” the result of negotiations that ended the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. The bodies of more than 1,200 Americans missing in action in the war were never recovered.

One reason I remember Kernan so well was the 1970 football game between my Ole Miss Rebels and the University of Southern Mississippi. Kernan and some other officers often allowed me, an enlisted guy, to watch games in the NAS Officers’ Club. Ole Miss went into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation, but USM pulled off a giant upset and Kernan and his buddies gave me much grief over the contest.

Later, Kernan, a Republican, became mayor of South Bend, Ind., then the state’s lieutenant governor and governor upon the death in office of Gov. Frank O’Bannon. Kernan sought a full term as governor in 2004 but was defeated, and he returned to private life as a teacher at Notre Dame and a minor league baseball team co-owner. Kernan had played baseball as a student at Notre Dame.

Several of the pilots trained on the RA-5C airplane played golf at the Albany base’s course when not in the classroom. The course, headed by the popular pro Billy Smith, was a haven of recreation for officers and enlisted sailors – and for blacks not allowed on other local courses.

One I recall was Bobby Stroble, who later had a cup of coffee on the professional golf tour. We all were enthralled at how far Stroble could hit a golf ball.

NAS Albany had operated for many years before as Turner Air Force Base. My wife, Mary Lee Chandler Gordon, taught children of military families at nearby Turner Elementary, starting in 1969-70. After its service as a Navy base, the property was sold to Miller Brewing Company.

Suffice it to say that through the gates of Turner AFB, NAS Albany and the still-operating Marine Corps Logistic Base, thousands of American patriots and heroes have passed. They deserve a huge thank-you for their service.