This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Steven Loomis (SaigonShipyard), IC3
to remember
Powell, Falvey C., Jr. (Chuck), CDR USN(Ret).
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Leesville, LA
Last Address Chuck was cremated and his ashes scattered over the North Atlantic by the U.S. Navy.
Date of Passing Oct 23, 2009
Location of Interment Buried at Sea, North Atlantic Ocean
Wall/Plot Coordinates Ashes scattered by the U.S. Navy
Falvey Charles Powell, Jr., PhD
Commander, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
RUSSIAN CONVOY CLUB
AIR WAR IN THE PACIFIC & KOREA
PILOT DURING THE BERLIN AIRLIFT
POWELL, Falvey Charles, "Chuck" PhD, CDR US Navy (Ret.)
During a 30-year military career he saw duty as a Navy combat pilot in the Pacific during World War II, a photo reconnaissance pilot in China and a C-54 jockey in the Berlin Airlift. - During the 15-month operation, some 277,000 sorties flew into Berlin. - Later, he flew combat cargo missions in Korea. By the time he retired, as a Naval officer in 1971, he'd seen action in two wars, plus the largest air transport operation in history, been stationed in nearly every corner of the globe and risen through the ranks from seaman to pilot to commander.
Born April 23, 1921 in Leesville, Louisiana; died October 23, 2009 in Omaha, Nebraska, at age 88. Chuck grew up during the Depression years and was raised by a variety of relatives, including his grandmother, uncle and sometimes his mother. He worked as a soda jerk in a drug store, living for a time on the second floor; he played the coronet; was an Eagle Scout; was greatly influenced by radio reports of Lindbergh's flight across the ocean; and always had a dog as a companion.
He graduated from Leesville High School in 1938, attended Louisiana State University one year, and on December 30, 1940, enlisted in the Navy as an apprentice seaman (seaman recruit) at New Orleans, LA. Thus began a 30-year career that took him around the world, beginning on the heavy cruiser, USS Tuscaloosa in the North Atlantic including convoys to North Russia and Operation Torch in North Africa. He became a pilot and qualified to fly 27 types of aircraft accumulating 18,000 flying hours. He was awarded the Air Medal for piloting a plane loaded with injured Marines out of the Chosin Reservoir under the most difficult circumstances during the Korean War. He was also a pilot in the Berlin Airlift and considered this his greatest humanitarian achievement. His assignments included SHAPE, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and in 1964 Chuck came to Offutt AFB as Flag Aircraft Commander for the Deputy Director, Strategic Target Planning. From there he retired from the Navy in 1971. He joined the faculty at the University of Nebraska - Omaha (UNO) in their Gerontology Dept. in 1973, retiring in 2005 as Professor, Fellow, and Community Service Associate. Chuck had a BA from Bellevue University, an MA from University of Oklahoma, and a PhD from University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He was a world traveler, known for his unique itineraries; a student of history with an extensive library; a wine collector and connoisseur; and a Francophile.
Chuck was cremated and his ashes scattered over the North Atlantic by the U.S. Navy.
Other Comments:
Powell had careers in the navy and academia
Chuck Powell was "a remarkable man," said his wife. He had a 30-year career in the Navy and a separate 30-year career at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He was a Francophile, history buff and world traveler, she said. His alter ego was a groundhog, Fontenelle Fred, who enjoyed poking fun at local politicians, said Betty G. Foster of Omaha, his wife.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Falvey Charles "Chuck" Powell died October 23, 2009 in Omaha. He was 88. Powell enlisted in the Navy in 1940 and started his worldwide travels, beginning on the USS Tuscaloosa in the North Atlantic. He began pilot training in 1944 and eventually qualified to fly 27 types of aircraft. Powell flew in the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and '49, which he considered his greatest achievement: "We saved a city without firing a single shot and kept thousands from starvation during the blockade."
He was awarded the Air Medal during the Korean War: He took off from a damaged dirt air strip and flew a fully loaded transport plane of wounded Marines out of the Chosin Reservoir.
Powell also was a search and rescue pilot. He earned a bachelor's degree from Bellevue University, a master's from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
In 1973, Powell began work in the Gerontology Department at UNO. For a time in the late '70s, he served as acting director. He retired in 2005 as a professor and Senior Community Service Associate at UNO. Powell was one of 10 delegates from Nebraska to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995 and was appointed by the Douglas County Board to serve on a joint committee to study a possible city-county merger.
In May 2009, he joined other airlift veterans in Berlin to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of the airlift.
.oOo.
If you have a few minutes, check out: A Berlin Airlift Story (an interview with Chuck Powell)
In Chuck's words: "We're an amazing country. Sometimes we have a veritable uncanny propensity to do the right thing. It (the Berlin Airlift) brought into rather sharp relief just what could be done. In my humble opinion the United States, between 1945 and 1950, could be compared to ancient Greece under Pericles. It as a golden era. We did virtually everything right and you can't do that without leadership. We were deep in leadership after the war."
