Photo By Sgt. Melissa Lee | Pat Donovan receives a certificate of appreciation during a banquet held by the Flying...... read more read more
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SAN DIEGO – A tall man in a black tuxedo and a dark red cummerbund laden with eagle globe and anchors, stands and smiles brightly as a fellow retired Marine hands him a certificate of appreciation. His daughter, in her dress blues, smiles at his side and they together read the framed certificate.
Patrick Donovan, a Vietnam veteran and Marine Corps pilot was commemorated for his services in 1969 during a celebration for the centennial of Marine Corps aviation.
Donovan is a two-time Navy Cross and Purple Heart recipient. He is a humble man who does not boast about his awards and medals.
Donovan never forgets about the Marines who worked with him and the corpsman who served aboard the CH-46E Sea Knight he flew.
“It was the crew chiefs - they’re the guys who stayed up all night working on the aircraft and during the day missions, so I was able to sleep at night,” said Donovan, a Chicago native. “The corpsman, the gunners, the co-pilot; they were the link to the Marines on the ground. Without them, the mission would not have been completed.”
In February 1969, 1st Lt. Donovan earned his first Navy Cross during a medical evacuation mission. The unit was under hostile fire, however, Donovan could not abort the mission knowing there were critically injured Marines on the ground. He made the decision to send his gunship to defend the ground Marines and the undamaged helicopters would continue to evacuate casualties.
When Donovan landed, the aircraft was hit by enemy grenades and mortars and sustained shrapnel injuries.
Despite the damage to the helicopter and his injuries, he maneuvered the Sea Knight to the nearest medical center. After receiving medical attention and ascertaining a new Sea Knight, he continued to enter hostile territory to evacuate casualties.
During the months to follow his courage never wavered.
In April 1969 while flying a medical evacuation of Marine casualties in a rice paddy, his outfit fell under heavy machine gun fire.
Although the forward section of his unit was hit, he continued through his mission and took the casualties to a hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam. After assessing his helicopter’s damages, he determined he could not fly the same helicopter and switched to an abled one to finish the mission.
This switch enabled him to provide protection for the last helicopter, resulting in the safety of the casualties inside earning him his second Navy Cross.
“After months or sometimes years you receive the Navy Cross, you never plan on doing something just to earn an award, all you’re thinking about is helping the Marines on the ground,” said Donovan.
Donovan has flown more than 700 missions. About half of the missions were difficult, complex missions, he explained.
Now Donovan takes pride in his daughter, Capt. Eileen Donovan, a logistics officer with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 166.
On one occasion, Capt. Donovan had found the same CH-46 her father had flown. She was able to get special permission to fly it at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The bullet holes that were inflicted on the helicopter when he had flown it in combat had been repaired, however, it was exciting that two generations could fly the same aircraft, explained Capt. Donovan.
During this year, the centennial of Marine Corps aviation, Donovan is one of many pilots honored and remembered for their service and contributions to flight in the Marine Corps.
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 06.14.2012 12:22 |
| Story ID: | 89985 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 933 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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