Nathan Green Gordon
Encyclopedia
Nathan Green Gordon was an American lawyer, politician, and decorated naval aviator
. A Democrat
, he served as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
for ten terms, from 1947 to 1967. As a United States Navy
officer in World War II, he received the U.S. military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor
—for rescuing the crews of several downed airplanes.
, the seat of Conway County in central Arkansas
, to Edward Gordon and the former Ada Ruth Bearden. After graduation from Morrilton public schools, he graduated Columbia Military Academy
, Columbia
, Tennessee, in 1933 followed by Arkansas Polytechnic College in Russellville
.. While enrolled in Arkansas Polytechnical College, he enlisted in Battery D, 206th Coast Artillery, Arkansas Army National Guard
. Following graduation, he attend law school at the University of Arkansas
in Fayetteville
, graduating with a Juris Doctor
degree in 1939.
Gordon practiced law in his hometown of Morrilton before joining the Navy in May 1941. After qualifying as a naval aviator, he was sent to the southwest Pacific Ocean
, where he would serve more than two years. He joined Patrol Squadron 34, nicknamed the "Black Cats", a PBY Catalina
patrol and rescue squadron based at Samarai Advanced Seaplane Base
in Milne Bay
, New Guinea
.
By February 15, 1944, he was a lieutenant, junior grade
, in command of a Catalina, Bureau Number 08139, which he nicknamed Arkansas Traveler. On that day, Gordon rescued 15 survivors of several downed aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces
, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor . He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant, and served in the Navy until 1945, when he was released from active duty.
After the war, Gordon formed a business partnership with his brother, Edward Gordon, Jr., and returned to the practice of law in Morrilton. His political career began in 1946, when he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas under Governor Benjamin Travis Laney
. He took office in January 1947 and was re-elected to nine more two-year terms, finally leaving office in January 1967. During his tenure he served under four different Governors: Laney (1945–1949), Sid McMath
(1949–1953), Francis Cherry
(1953–1955), and Orval Faubus
(1955–1967).
Gordon did not seek reelection in 1966, when the Democratic nominee, James Pilkinton of Hope
, narrowly lost the general election to Maurice L. Britt, the first Republican
to hold the state's second highest office since Reconstruction. Like Gordon, Britt was also a military hero.
attacked Kavieng
on the island of New Ireland
. The mission consisted of four squadrons of A-20 Havocs from the 3rd Bombardment Group
that attacked shipping in the harbor, and seven squadrons of B-25's from the 38th
and 345th Groups that bombed facilities along the harbor front. Accurate antiaircraft fire shot down eight of the low-level strafers.
Gordon's PBY Catalina
, Gardenia Six, was on station near Witu
, escorted by four P-47 Thunderbolt
s of the 348th Fighter Group
. In one of the "most striking rescues of the war," he made four separate landings and take-offs under Japanese fire. On his first landing, endangered by waves that were breaking 16 to 18 feet high, he searched for the crew of a downed A-20 without locating survivors. The aircraft was severely stressed and took on water from numerous burst seams.
After taking off, Gordon was directed twice to pick up nine men of two B-25s that had ditched, forced to shut down one or both engines to effect the rescues, while two other B-25s strafed the Japanese gun positions to suppress their fire. After the PBY started back to base and its fighter escorts had departed, low on fuel, one of the B-25s spotted two rafts and called back the rescue aircraft. Despite heavy seas and a damaged aircraft, Lt.(j.g.) Gordon executed another landing only 600 yards from shore, overflying Japanese gun positions at low level to land, and picked up an additional six airmen. His final takeoff with 24 men aboard was with a dangerously overloaded aircraft, but he managed to keep the Catalina's nose up until he reached flying speed without nosing over in the rough seas.
Gordon received the Medal of Honor in September 1944, and his crew of eight each received the Silver Star
.
United States Naval Aviator
A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...
. A Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, he served as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
The Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas presides over the Arkansas Senate with a tie-breaking vote, serves as governor when the governor is out of state, and serves as governor if the governor is impeached, removed from office, dies or is otherwise unable to discharge the office's duties.The position...
for ten terms, from 1947 to 1967. As a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
officer in World War II, he received the U.S. military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
—for rescuing the crews of several downed airplanes.
Biography
Gordon was born in MorriltonMorrilton, Arkansas
Morrilton is a city in Conway County, Arkansas, United States, northwest of Little Rock. The town was home to Harding College, now Harding University of Searcy, Arkansas, for about a decade in the 1920s and 1930s. The population was 6,550 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Conway County in central Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, to Edward Gordon and the former Ada Ruth Bearden. After graduation from Morrilton public schools, he graduated Columbia Military Academy
Columbia Military Academy
The property on which Columbia Military Academy was built was an arsenal for the US Army up to the end of the Spanish-American War. The arsenal was declared surplus property in 1901, and in 1904 the land was formally turned over to the Columbia Military Academy...
, Columbia
Columbia, Tennessee
Columbia is a city in Maury County, Tennessee, United States. The 2008 population was 34,402 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. It is the county seat of Maury County....
, Tennessee, in 1933 followed by Arkansas Polytechnic College in Russellville
Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville is the county seat and largest city in Pope County, Arkansas, United States, with a population of 27,920, according to the 2010 Census. It is home to Arkansas Tech University and Arkansas Nuclear One, Arkansas' only nuclear power plant...
.. While enrolled in Arkansas Polytechnical College, he enlisted in Battery D, 206th Coast Artillery, Arkansas Army National Guard
Arkansas Army National Guard
The Arkansas Army National Guard is a component of the Arkansas National Guard and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization...
. Following graduation, he attend law school at the University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...
in Fayetteville
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks...
, graduating with a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree in 1939.
Gordon practiced law in his hometown of Morrilton before joining the Navy in May 1941. After qualifying as a naval aviator, he was sent to the southwest Pacific Ocean
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
, where he would serve more than two years. He joined Patrol Squadron 34, nicknamed the "Black Cats", a PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
patrol and rescue squadron based at Samarai Advanced Seaplane Base
Samarai Advanced Seaplane Base
Samarai Advanced Seaplane Base was a US Navy seaplane base at Samarai Island, Papua New Guinea during World War II.The advanced seaplane base was built by a detachment of the 84th Naval Construction Battalion with help from members of USS San Pablo , a seaplane tender...
in Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
.
By February 15, 1944, he was a lieutenant, junior grade
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, United States Merchant Marine USMM, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade...
, in command of a Catalina, Bureau Number 08139, which he nicknamed Arkansas Traveler. On that day, Gordon rescued 15 survivors of several downed aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor . He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant, and served in the Navy until 1945, when he was released from active duty.
After the war, Gordon formed a business partnership with his brother, Edward Gordon, Jr., and returned to the practice of law in Morrilton. His political career began in 1946, when he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas under Governor Benjamin Travis Laney
Benjamin Travis Laney
Benjamin Travis Laney, Jr. , was the 33rd Governor of Arkansas, having served from 1945-1949.Laney was born in Camden, where he attended Ouachita County public schools but never graduated from high school. He was, however, admitted in 1915 to Hendrix College, a liberal arts institution in...
. He took office in January 1947 and was re-elected to nine more two-year terms, finally leaving office in January 1967. During his tenure he served under four different Governors: Laney (1945–1949), Sid McMath
Sid McMath
Sidney Sanders McMath was a decorated U.S. Marine, attorney and the 34th Governor of Arkansas who, in defiance of his state's political establishment, championed rapid rural electrification, massive highway and school construction, the building of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,...
(1949–1953), Francis Cherry
Francis Cherry
Francis Adams Cherry was the 35th Governor of Arkansas, elected as a Democrat for a single two-year term from 1953 to 1955. He was only the second governor in Arkansas history to have been denied a second term—the first was Tom Jefferson Terral, who was defeated in 1926. After the...
(1953–1955), and Orval Faubus
Orval Faubus
Orval Eugene Faubus was the 36th Governor of Arkansas, serving from 1955 to 1967. He is best known for his 1957 stand against the desegregation of Little Rock public schools during the Little Rock Crisis, in which he defied a unanimous decision of the United States Supreme Court by ordering the...
(1955–1967).
Gordon did not seek reelection in 1966, when the Democratic nominee, James Pilkinton of Hope
Hope, Arkansas
Hope is a small city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2008 United States Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 10,378...
, narrowly lost the general election to Maurice L. Britt, the first Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
to hold the state's second highest office since Reconstruction. Like Gordon, Britt was also a military hero.
Medal of Honor mission
On February 15, the Fifth Air ForceFifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
attacked Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
on the island of New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
. The mission consisted of four squadrons of A-20 Havocs from the 3rd Bombardment Group
3d Operations Group
The 3d Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 3d Wing. It is stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force....
that attacked shipping in the harbor, and seven squadrons of B-25's from the 38th
38th Bombardment Group
The 38th Bombardment Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. It was most recently assigned as the operational component of the 38th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Laon-Couvron Air Base, France, where it was inactivated on 8 December 1957.During World War II the 38th Bomb Group...
and 345th Groups that bombed facilities along the harbor front. Accurate antiaircraft fire shot down eight of the low-level strafers.
Gordon's PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
, Gardenia Six, was on station near Witu
Vitu Islands
The Vitu Islands are a volcanic group with an area of 37 sq mi located in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea in the South West Pacific....
, escorted by four P-47 Thunderbolt
P-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s of the 348th Fighter Group
348th Fighter Group
The 348th Fighter Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. Its last assignment was with V Fighter Command, stationed at Itami Air Base, Japan. It was inactivated on 10 May 1946....
. In one of the "most striking rescues of the war," he made four separate landings and take-offs under Japanese fire. On his first landing, endangered by waves that were breaking 16 to 18 feet high, he searched for the crew of a downed A-20 without locating survivors. The aircraft was severely stressed and took on water from numerous burst seams.
After taking off, Gordon was directed twice to pick up nine men of two B-25s that had ditched, forced to shut down one or both engines to effect the rescues, while two other B-25s strafed the Japanese gun positions to suppress their fire. After the PBY started back to base and its fighter escorts had departed, low on fuel, one of the B-25s spotted two rafts and called back the rescue aircraft. Despite heavy seas and a damaged aircraft, Lt.(j.g.) Gordon executed another landing only 600 yards from shore, overflying Japanese gun positions at low level to land, and picked up an additional six airmen. His final takeoff with 24 men aboard was with a dangerously overloaded aircraft, but he managed to keep the Catalina's nose up until he reached flying speed without nosing over in the rough seas.
Gordon received the Medal of Honor in September 1944, and his crew of eight each received the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
.
Medal of Honor citation
Lieutenant Gordon's official Medal of Honor citation reads:For extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty as commander of a Catalina patrol plane in rescuing personnel of the U.S. Army 5th Air Force shot down in combat over Kavieng Harbor in the Bismarck Sea, February 15, 1944. On air alert in the vicinity of Vitu IslandsVitu IslandsThe Vitu Islands are a volcanic group with an area of 37 sq mi located in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea in the South West Pacific....
, Lt. (then Lt. j.g.) Gordon unhesitatingly responded to a report of the crash and flew boldly into the harbor, defying close-range fire from enemy shore guns to make 3 separate landings in full view of the Japanese and pick up 9 men, several of them injured. With his cumbersome flying boat dangerously overloaded, he made a brilliant takeoff despite heavy swells and almost total absence of wind and set a course for base, only to receive the report of another group stranded in a rubber life raft 600 yards from the enemy shore. Promptly turning back, he again risked his life to set his plane down under direct fire of the heaviest defenses of Kavieng and take aboard 6 more survivors, coolly making his fourth dexterous takeoff with 15 rescued officers and men. By his exceptional daring, personal valor, and incomparable airmanship under most perilous conditions, Lieutenant Gordon prevented certain death or capture of our airmen by the Japanese.
See also
- List of Medal of Honor recipients for World War II