Stanley W. “Swede” Vejtasa was the only World War II carrier pilot to receive Navy Crosses for both dive bombing and aerial combat. Born in Montana in 1914, Vejtasa attended both Montana State College and the University of Montana. He enlisted in the Navy...
Captain Cook Cleland was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1916. Upon graduation from the University of Missouri in 1940, he joined the Navy and received the gold wings of a naval aviator shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in his first wartime assignment...
