Page 56 - The History of Veterans at Highland Springs

EDWARD GITHENS
HIGHLAND SPRINGS RESIDENT, NAVY
Edward Githens entered the U.S. Navy in September 1956 after graduation from the University of New Hampshire. After basic training, he entered Navy Flight School in Pensacola, FL, graduating as an Ensign in March 1957.
A training trip to Dallas Love Field allowed him to test pilot an experimental jet while waiting for his partner to finish classes, but his commanding officer was not happy with Ed and the instructors that allowed him that opportunity a little early in his career. He continued his training in helicopters and received his Naval Aviator Designation in April ’58 and an assignment to Quonset Point N.A.S. in Rhode Island.
As a Lieutenant, Junior Grade, flying the new Sikorsky SH-3 Sky King, he trained in Anti-Submarine Warfare, graduating in October 1959 from the Atlantic Fleet Tactical School. Now a full Lieutenant, Ed and his Squad #9 received the Navy Meritorious Service Award in August 1960 for their heavy storm transport of a worker needing emergency surgery from an oil platform in the Atlantic.
Soon after, Squad #9 became part of the American forces deployed in the Bay of Pigs Invasion to help Cuban exiles overturn the Castro government in Cuba. As they waited with their rotors turning on the deck of the USS Layte, the mission was scrubbed moments before takeoff, and they returned to Quonset Point.
Ed became an Anti-Submarine Commander in September 1961, and was honorably discharged as a Navy Reserve pilot in June 1962, continuing to serve until 1965. His graduation from a Naval Justice School in 1958 prepared him for a career as a Legal Administrator in Buffalo, NY, and he flew helicopter tours over Niagara Falls for several years after completing his naval career.
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