| Gordon R. Nakagawa |
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| Rank, Service |
| Captain O-6, U.S. Navy |
| Veteran of: |
U.S. Navy 1958-1989
Cold War 1958-1989
Vietnam War 1967-1969, 1972-1973 (POW), 1975
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| Tribute: |
Gordon Nakagawa was commissioned through the Navy ROTC program at the University of California on February 7, 1958. He completed flight training at NAS Kingsville, Texas, and was designated a Naval Aviator in August 1959. Nakagawa served with VS-23 and VS-25 before being assigned as a project officer with the Pacific Missile Range. He next completed his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering with the Naval Postgraduate School in December 1966. LT Nakagawa began flying combat missions in Southeast Asia in the A-6 Intruder with VA-165 in December 1967. He served as an instructor in Guided Missile Design at the U.S. Naval Academy from July 1969 to July 1971, and then went back to flying combat with VA-196. On December 21, 1972, CDR Nakagawa was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War. After spending 98 days in captivity, he was released during Operation Homecoming on March 29, 1973. CDR Nakagawa was one of only two Vietnam POWs to fly combat missions in Southeast Asia after their repatriation in 1973 when he flew protective cover for the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975 as the Commanding Officer of VA-196, flying off the USS Enterprise. He served as Air Operations and Operations Officer on USS Constellation from July 1977 to August 1979, and then was assigned as Director of the Systems Engineering Management Division with Naval Air Systems Command from September 1979 to May 1983. During this time, Captain Nakagawa also served as Assistant Director of the Avionics Division. He next became Commanding Officer of NAS Point Mugu, California, in September 1983, and then served as Chair of Tactical Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from September 1985 until his retirement from the Navy on September 29, 1989. |
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