Page 47 - The History of Veterans at Highland Springs

ROBERT EDMONDSON
HIGHLAND SPRINGS RESIDENT, NAVY
In January 1956, I was an Air Officer Candidate School Navy pilot trained in Pensacola, FL. I rented a small beach cottage from Muriel Greiger, wife of the first Marine air group commander in the United States. She had some exciting stories!
After finishing training at the three fields there (Whiting, Saufley and Baron), I moved to Corpus Christi for advanced jet training. Assigned to Miramar Field in San Diego, our squadron VA-55 (Skyhawks) (Flying FJ- 4B) was quickly rushed to West Pac and the carrier USS Bennington (CVA-20) under blackout operations during the Chinese shelling of the Formosa straits (August 58 – January 59).
Upon return to the United States my next assignment was with VA-126 as an instructor back at Miramar. I was honorably discharged in 1960 as a Lieutenant Junior Grade and returned to graduate school.
Highlights: Association with wonderful pilots and service personnel. My wife Lee was a constant companion, wife, and mother to our first child Diane, who was born in Corpus Christi. We still correspond with some of our career friends. Two became Carrier Air Group Commanders (CAGSs), and Paul Stephenson was a real Top Gun.
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