Last Known Activity:
Rear Admiral Leroy Vincent Swanson, USN retired
Naval Aviator No. 5921, Dec. 1938. Grey Eagle 1975/76
CORONADO, Calif. - Rear Admiral Leroy Swanson, USN (retired), 92, Coronado, Calif., passed away Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008, at the Coronado Hospital. Leroy was a farmboy born Nov. 11, 1915, in Oneida, Ill., the son of George and Anna Peterson Swanson. On Sept. 28, 1940, he married Margaret Fentress in Norfolk, Va.
The first in his family to attend college, he graduated from Bradley University in 1937 after finishing at Oneida High School, class of '32. He was commissioned as a naval aviator June 24, 1939. The ensign would go from biplanes to jets to admiral and serve in three wars. His combat missions in World War II were bombing and torpedo runs - notably in the Bonin Islands of Japan as CO of Attack Squadron 45. During the Korean War, he commanded an air group of Banshees off the carrier Wasp, and during the Vietnam conflict, commanded Carrier Division Two that rode on the USS America.
As a commander, he was XO of the USS Shangrila; his fourth stripe came as CO of the Naval Combat Information School; then his first command, an ammunition ship, USS Haleakala. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he skippered the aircraft carrier USS Independence. He was Chief of Staff Carrier Division One, then minted Admiral, his flag hoisted aboard the America as ComCarDiv Two in 1968, catapulting bombing, fighter, rescue and support missions from Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin.
In 1969, he became Deputy Commander-in-Chief U.S. Naval Forces, Europe. In 1972, he assumed Commander Field Command, Defense Nuclear Agency, Kirtland AFB. His 37 years of Naval service were served with distinction: Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit (2 gold stars), Air Medal (3 gold stars), Navy Commendation Medal (with "V"), Navy Commendation Medal with star, Navy Unit Commendation (w/stars), American Defense, European and Asia/Pacific Campaigns, World War II Victory, National Defense Medal (w/stars), Korea and Vietnam Campaigns, National Order of Vietnam Fifth Class, Vietnam Gallantry Cross w/Bronze Star, the Gray and Golden Eagle Awards.
Highlights of his career include recovering a lost H bomb off the Spanish coast; becoming a 'mach buster' pioneer - early on, breaking the speed of sound; landing a DC-3 on the South Pole; and perhaps one of his proudest achievements, the only aviator ever catapulted off an aircraft carrier while steaming down the Mississippi River. Asked recently how he got away with that, he laughed, 'You couldn't get away with it these days!'
He retired to Coronado, Calif., in 1976. He was an avid golfer, jogger, handyman, gardener and a populist who lit up a room with his smile.
Leroy was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Vernon Swanson, of Oneida, Ill. He is survived by his wife, Margaret; daughters Carolyn, Mary Margaret and Ginny; a son, Michael; eight grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; a brother, Hubert Swanson, Galesburg; and a sister, Beth Olson, Moline, Ill. Admiral Swanson asked for no memorial service except to be buried at sea from a U.S. aircraft carrier. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.
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