Auman, Forrester Clinton, CAPT

WWII Naval Hero, Capt Forrester C. Auman deceased at age 87
North Myrtle Beach News

Capt. Auman had a distinguished military career as a naval aviator. With 31 and half years under his belt, at one time he was the most senior captain in the Navy. During the WWII Battle of Midway his plane ran out of fuel and had to be ditched but he was later picked up by a PT boat.

As a dive bomber following a skirmish with a Japanese fighter which left him with a bloody head from five pieces of shrapnel he was credited with a direct hit on the Japanese carrier Shokaku which had taken part in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

When he tried to return to his ship the aircraft carrier Hornet, he discovered it had been sunk so he was forced to land aboard the carrier Enterprise. His plane was so shot up that it was pushed over the side.

Although entitled to a Purple Heart, the line was so long that he chose to go to bed instead.

For his performance that day he was awarded the Silver Star --for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity as pilot of a Scout Bomber of the U.S.S. Hornet Air Group during action again enemy Japanese forces near Santa Cruz Island October 26, 1942. The citation for the Silver Star read, "In the face of heavy and prolonged fighter opposition, Lt.j Auman pressed home during a daring and persistent attack and succeeded in scoring a direct bomb hit on a large aircraft carrier. His expert airmanship and tenacity in a critical situation contributed in a large measure to the heavy damage inflicted on the enemy" It was signed by Frank Knox, Secretary of Defense. Later, he was the first American into Nagasaki after the bombing with orders to remove the US POW's.

He went on to command two squadrons - the astronaut Alan Shepard was in one of his air groups - and to serve as navigator aboard the USS Tarawa and as Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, TX. He had three tours at the Pentagon- during the last he helped supply daily briefings to the Kennedy White House as a specialist in nuclear warfare plans.

Capt. Auman graduated from Seagrove High School and High Point College in NC and received a masteR's degree in International Affairs from George Washington University. His last job in the Navy was as Commanding Officer of the NROTC unit at Georgia Tech in Atlanta where he received the Legion of Merit from the President of the United States --for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services-- signed by Admiral E.R. Zumwalt, Jr., Chief of Naval Operations. He stayed on at the university for an additional six years as Director of Campus Safety - attending the Georgia Police Academy and being elected by the students as their favorite campus administrator.

He continued his pre-World War II love of flying throughout his life, piloting charter flights and soloing about 350 students after his retirement from the Navy in July 1972. The last recorded entry in his log book was January 20, 2000 when he was 81 years old! This flight brought his total lifetime flying hours to 17,095!

In 1944 he met his wife Jeanne at a tea dance at the Hotel del Coronado in Coronado CA while on R&R following his war injuries and they married three months later. Shortly thereafter he returned to the war and was not able to see his new son until he was eight months old. In spite of the warnings that a war marriage would never last and surviving over 20 moves together, he and his wife were married for 61 years. She died just six months ago.

Tentative plans are to bury his ashes in the churchyard of Whynot Methodist Church in the tiny NC farming community where he grew up.

Forrester C. Auman known as Joe Auman was born April 26, 1918 in Seagrove, NC. He died at age 87 in Brooking Park, a retirement facility in Chesterfield, Mo.

Auman is survived by his children, Thomas Forrester Auman of Moline, IL, John Anthony Auman of Atlanta, GA and Sarajane Auman Robertson of Ballwin, Mo. His is daughter, Janet Lynne Auman, pre-deceased him in 2003.