Jeremiah A. Denton, Jr

Jerry Denton graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy on June 5, 1946, His first assignment was as a Communications Officer aboard the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge (CV-45). He served as an Airship Test Pilot with the Chief of Naval Airships Training and Experimentation. He then served as a WV-2 Warning Star pilot with VW-2 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. During this time, he also served as a Project Officer and Test Pilot with the Naval Air Test Center at Pax River. His next assignment was as an Air Defense Officer on the staff of the Commander U.S. 6th Fleet, followed by Armed Forces Staff College at Norfolk, Virginia. Lieutenant Commander Denton served as a Flight Instructor with VT-22 at NAS Kingsville, Texas, and then attended A-1H Skyraider transition training with VA-42 at NAS Oceana, Virginia. Commander Denton next served as Executive Officer and then Commanding Officer of VA-75 at NAS Oceana. He completed A-6 Intruder Replacement Air Group training with VA-42 at NAS Oceana, before serving as an A-6 pilot and Operations Officer for CAW-7, and as Prospective Commanding Officer of VA-75, from February 1965 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on July 18, 1965.