Gordon Arthur Stanley (13 July 1921 – 19 April 1956) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

aviator and a

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

of World War II. He was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft in the Pacific Theatre flying

Grumman F6F Hellcat The Grumman F6F Hellcat is an American Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft of World War II. Designed to replace the earlier Grumman F4F Wildcat, F4F Wildcat and to counter the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero, it was the United St ...

s. As a

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

officer, he was killed in an accident while flying a Grumman F9F-6 Cougar of Naval Aviation Reserve Training Unit,

Naval Air Station Glenview Naval Air Station Glenview or NAS Glenview was an operational U.S. Naval Air Station from 1937 to 1995. Located in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, the air base primarily operated training aircraft as well as seaplanes on nearby Lake M ...

, in Illinois.

Early life

Gordon Arthur Stanley was born 13 July 1921, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, but his home of record was Oakridge, Oregon, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred B. Stanley of that town. Stanley attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, where he was a member of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity. ''

The Register-Guard ''The Register-Guard'' is a daily newspaper in the northwestern United States, published in Eugene, Oregon. It was formed in a 1930 merger of two Eugene papers, the ''Eugene Daily Guard'' and the ''Morning Register''. The paper serves the Eugene ...

'',

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

, Oregon, reported on Sunday 29 August 1943, that Stanley had been commissioned an ensign in the Naval Reserve following completion of training at the Naval Air Training Center, Corpus Christi, Texas.

Naval career

World War II

Stanley served as a U.S. Navy fighter pilot who flew with squadrons VF-3 and VF-27, the latter flying from USS ''Princeton''. He is credited with eight victories while assigned to the latter squadron. On 19 June 1944, during the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, Stanley was credited with downing four Japanese aircraft while flying an F6F-3 Hellcat. Following the war, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve.

Death

In 1956, while assigned to the staff of the Chief of Naval Air Reserve Training at

, Illinois, north of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, at age 34, on 19 April 1956, he embarked on a routine training mission in a flight of two Grumman F9F-6 Cougars. "Officials at Glenview said the plane was one of two on a training flight. The flyer who returned reported that a few seconds after the planes went into clouds at 19,000 feet, Stanley reported by radio that he was 'losing control'. Glenview sent out a helicopter and flying boat PBY air-sea rescue unit, and within a few minutes both reported seeing the lost plane in shallow water half a mile off Fort Sheridan. Neither saw any trace of the pilot." Navy officials said that the accident occurred at 1330 hrs. and that they were notified by phone from Fort Sheridan within five minutes. The rescue units were airborne at 1340 hrs. The pilot ejected but his chute apparently failed to deploy. The plane fell into shallow water about a half mile off of the fort and the canopy from the aircraft was recovered by personnel at the fort but there was no sign of Lt. Cmdr. Stanley. He was survived by his wife and three children in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Awards

Stanley was the recipient of the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Gordon Arthur 1921 births 1956 deaths American aviators American World War II flying aces Aviators from Oregon Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Military personnel from Seattle People from Oakridge, Oregon Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Silver Star University of Oregon alumni Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1956