Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Zachary S Eshleman | 160129-N-VS214-005 SAN DIEGO (Jan 29, 2016) The family of deceased naval aviator,...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO (Jan. 29, 2016) – Born in Los Angeles on Jan. 9, 1919, John Westland’s life began in a period called the Jazz Age; a time between the two World Wars where a sense of adventure gripped the nation. It was a time when goals were meant to be pursued and anything was seen as possible. These ideals began to manifest themselves in Westland when, in 1932 at age 13, he was taken for a ride in the Goodyear blimp.
In an era without satellite images or computers, seeing the world from above was a novel idea. Throughout his whole life Westland would often recount the story of his ride to his family and attributed it to his decision to become a naval pilot and his love of aviation.
From then on, he always had a sense of adventure that drove him. At the age of 16 he took a year out of high school to travel around the world working on an old steamer for a shipping company.
After high school, during his enrollment at San Diego State University, he spent more then a year in what is now North Korea working as an English-speaking business manager for a gold mine. At the time this Japanese-occupied region was called Cho Sun.
After graduating from college, he decided to become a Naval aviator. He trained in Pensacola, Florida, and stayed there to teach until the United States entered World War II.
During the war, he was stationed in Okinawa and flew missions to deliver wounded soldiers to hospital ships. He chose to do this because he still had friends in Japan from his travels and his time living there. He did not want to fly fighters or bombing runs into the area for this reason.
While acting as the commander of his squadron, he received the Noel Davis Award for the most efficient Naval Squadron.
After the war, he received his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Southern California and joined the Naval Reserves. He eventually retired as a Captain.
Today, his memory lives on with his wife, Mary, and his children. Recently, through a contest offered by the Navy Exchange, they won the opportunity to ride on the Goodyear blimp and relive his childhood wonderment.
“For my dad, it was the beginning of his love of flying to be on the blimp … it fueled his sense of adventure and the blimp has always been the source of that,” said his daughter Jann Davidson. When asked what it means for her to be there she said, “we are all extremely overwhelmed and excited. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to be here and I think his presence is with us today”
After returning to ground, John’s widow Mary said with a smile, “I certainly thought about him up there and I could just picture him being up by the pilot helping out and telling him what to do.”
A person’s sense of adventure can arise from anywhere. For John Westland, it came in the form of a ride on the Goodyear blimp in 1932. This ride set his purpose in motion and inspired this young man to become a remarkable aviator.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2016 17:08 |
| Story ID: | 187615 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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