CHARLES W. GUNNELS, JR.
Soon after graduating Annapolis, class of 1941, Charles served aboard USS California, whose home port was Pearl Harbor. An account of the action aboard the California on December 7, 1941 cites several ensigns, including then Ens. Gunnels, among the brave men who assisted others when the ship came under attack: they "displayed outstanding qualities of leadership, bravery, and coolness, while fighting fires and rescuing men." He later participated in the Casa Blanca Landings aboard the battleship USS Massachusetts.
Ens. Gunnels was later promoted to Lt. Cmdr. and became the 2nd Exec. Officer of bomber/fighter squadron 87 (VBF-87) attached to USS Ticonderoga CV-14.
His air group dropped the "last bombs of WWII."
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross personally by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
After performing duty for the Bureau of Aeronautics at Washington, D.C., He became operations officer of USS Shangri-La (CVA 38) in June 1956, while the ship was in Yokohama, Japan.
At 1330 on 27 April, 1957, the OOD at NAS Atsugi telephoned the ship to report that the SNB-5 aircraft with three Shangri-La crewmen aboard was overdue. The plane had departed NAS Atsugi enroute to Komaki Air Base on a proficiency training flight. Aboard the aircraft were Shangri-La's Operations Officer, Cmdr. Charles Gunnels; Medical Officer, Captain Elmer Johnson; and Lt(jg) James Fryer of HU-1. Also aboard was a first class photographer from a shore station in Japan. A wide search was initiated by U. S. Naval, U. S. Air Force and Japanese Defense aircraft and ships of the U. S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Defense Force. The next morning, Shangri-La sent thirty members of the Marine Detachment to join ten men of SAINT PAUL (CA-73) to search the mountain area on Izu Peninsula. By mid-afternoon, search parties located the wreckage of the SNB near the crest of Amagi-Sammuaka Mountain on Izu Peninsula. There were no survivors.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His father died earlier that same April 1957.
Cmdr. Gunnels was married to Phyllis O'Brien Gunnels. They had three daughters and four sons.
Soon after graduating Annapolis, class of 1941, Charles served aboard USS California, whose home port was Pearl Harbor. An account of the action aboard the California on December 7, 1941 cites several ensigns, including then Ens. Gunnels, among the brave men who assisted others when the ship came under attack: they "displayed outstanding qualities of leadership, bravery, and coolness, while fighting fires and rescuing men." He later participated in the Casa Blanca Landings aboard the battleship USS Massachusetts.
Ens. Gunnels was later promoted to Lt. Cmdr. and became the 2nd Exec. Officer of bomber/fighter squadron 87 (VBF-87) attached to USS Ticonderoga CV-14.
His air group dropped the "last bombs of WWII."
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross personally by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
After performing duty for the Bureau of Aeronautics at Washington, D.C., He became operations officer of USS Shangri-La (CVA 38) in June 1956, while the ship was in Yokohama, Japan.
At 1330 on 27 April, 1957, the OOD at NAS Atsugi telephoned the ship to report that the SNB-5 aircraft with three Shangri-La crewmen aboard was overdue. The plane had departed NAS Atsugi enroute to Komaki Air Base on a proficiency training flight. Aboard the aircraft were Shangri-La's Operations Officer, Cmdr. Charles Gunnels; Medical Officer, Captain Elmer Johnson; and Lt(jg) James Fryer of HU-1. Also aboard was a first class photographer from a shore station in Japan. A wide search was initiated by U. S. Naval, U. S. Air Force and Japanese Defense aircraft and ships of the U. S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Defense Force. The next morning, Shangri-La sent thirty members of the Marine Detachment to join ten men of SAINT PAUL (CA-73) to search the mountain area on Izu Peninsula. By mid-afternoon, search parties located the wreckage of the SNB near the crest of Amagi-Sammuaka Mountain on Izu Peninsula. There were no survivors.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His father died earlier that same April 1957.
Cmdr. Gunnels was married to Phyllis O'Brien Gunnels. They had three daughters and four sons.
CHARLES W. GUNNELS, JR.
Soon after graduating Annapolis, class of 1941, Charles served aboard USS California, whose home port was Pearl Harbor. An account of the action aboard the California on December 7, 1941 cites several ensigns, including then Ens. Gunnels, among the brave men who assisted others when the ship came under attack: they "displayed outstanding qualities of leadership, bravery, and coolness, while fighting fires and rescuing men." He later participated in the Casa Blanca Landings aboard the battleship USS Massachusetts.
Ens. Gunnels was later promoted to Lt. Cmdr. and became the 2nd Exec. Officer of bomber/fighter squadron 87 (VBF-87) attached to USS Ticonderoga CV-14.
His air group dropped the "last bombs of WWII."
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross personally by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
After performing duty for the Bureau of Aeronautics at Washington, D.C., He became operations officer of USS Shangri-La (CVA 38) in June 1956, while the ship was in Yokohama, Japan.
At 1330 on 27 April, 1957, the OOD at NAS Atsugi telephoned the ship to report that the SNB-5 aircraft with three Shangri-La crewmen aboard was overdue. The plane had departed NAS Atsugi enroute to Komaki Air Base on a proficiency training flight. Aboard the aircraft were Shangri-La's Operations Officer, Cmdr. Charles Gunnels; Medical Officer, Captain Elmer Johnson; and Lt(jg) James Fryer of HU-1. Also aboard was a first class photographer from a shore station in Japan. A wide search was initiated by U. S. Naval, U. S. Air Force and Japanese Defense aircraft and ships of the U. S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Defense Force. The next morning, Shangri-La sent thirty members of the Marine Detachment to join ten men of SAINT PAUL (CA-73) to search the mountain area on Izu Peninsula. By mid-afternoon, search parties located the wreckage of the SNB near the crest of Amagi-Sammuaka Mountain on Izu Peninsula. There were no survivors.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His father died earlier that same April 1957.
Cmdr. Gunnels was married to Phyllis O'Brien Gunnels. They had three daughters and four sons.
Soon after graduating Annapolis, class of 1941, Charles served aboard USS California, whose home port was Pearl Harbor. An account of the action aboard the California on December 7, 1941 cites several ensigns, including then Ens. Gunnels, among the brave men who assisted others when the ship came under attack: they "displayed outstanding qualities of leadership, bravery, and coolness, while fighting fires and rescuing men." He later participated in the Casa Blanca Landings aboard the battleship USS Massachusetts.
Ens. Gunnels was later promoted to Lt. Cmdr. and became the 2nd Exec. Officer of bomber/fighter squadron 87 (VBF-87) attached to USS Ticonderoga CV-14.
His air group dropped the "last bombs of WWII."
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross personally by Admiral Chester Nimitz.
After performing duty for the Bureau of Aeronautics at Washington, D.C., He became operations officer of USS Shangri-La (CVA 38) in June 1956, while the ship was in Yokohama, Japan.
At 1330 on 27 April, 1957, the OOD at NAS Atsugi telephoned the ship to report that the SNB-5 aircraft with three Shangri-La crewmen aboard was overdue. The plane had departed NAS Atsugi enroute to Komaki Air Base on a proficiency training flight. Aboard the aircraft were Shangri-La's Operations Officer, Cmdr. Charles Gunnels; Medical Officer, Captain Elmer Johnson; and Lt(jg) James Fryer of HU-1. Also aboard was a first class photographer from a shore station in Japan. A wide search was initiated by U. S. Naval, U. S. Air Force and Japanese Defense aircraft and ships of the U. S. Navy and the Japanese Maritime Defense Force. The next morning, Shangri-La sent thirty members of the Marine Detachment to join ten men of SAINT PAUL (CA-73) to search the mountain area on Izu Peninsula. By mid-afternoon, search parties located the wreckage of the SNB near the crest of Amagi-Sammuaka Mountain on Izu Peninsula. There were no survivors.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His father died earlier that same April 1957.
Cmdr. Gunnels was married to Phyllis O'Brien Gunnels. They had three daughters and four sons.
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