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North Carolina Wing Civil Air Patrol to Honor Local Congressional Gold Medal Recipients

Congressional Gold Medal Back.
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Bronze replica of the Congressional Gold Medal Back. Photo Credit: Col Dave Crawford, NC Wing Commander (click image to view full size)
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Two Local Heroes to Receive Bronze Replica Medals

2/1/2015–

A Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for Civil Air Patrol Founding Members Lt. Col. Goodwin, Jr. and Mrs. (2nd Lt) Annie Stevenson Hyde will take place on Saturday, February 7, 2015, at 1 p.m. at Total Flight Solutions located at the Triangle North Executive Airport near Louisburg, NC.  Lt. Col Goodwin, Jr. and Mrs. Hyde will be receiving a bronze replica of the medal.
 
On December 10, 2014, Civil Air Patrol was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Capitol Hill in honor of its founding members’ role in protecting the homeland against deadly German U-boat attacks during World War II and carrying out other vital wartime domestic missions.  
 
Clive Goodwin, Jr, 88, of Youngsville was with the New York Wing where he was a pilot and searched for downed military aircraft, looked for forest fires and was an aircraft spotter.  He used his experience flying in CAP to help him get into the Army/Air Force.  After his military service, he worked for Precision Air and eventually the General Electric Company.  He is active in CAP with the Franklin County Composite Squadron and is still an active pilot.
 
Annie Stevenson Hyde, 91, of Roanoke Rapids, served with the Rocky Mount squadron in 1944-45.  She attended classes and participated in drill while with the squadron.  After CAP, Mrs. Hyde graduated from East Carolina Teachers College (ECTC) in Greenville.  She was a home economics teacher for most of her 39 years of teaching.  Mrs. Hyde started teaching in Rocky Mount at Benvenue School.  She spent her last 37 years teaching at William R. Davie (all in the same room) teaching home economics and the last few years teaching career explorations.
 
Some 200,000 men, women and teenagers from all walks of life – including stars of the silver screen and successful businessmen, future Tuskegee Airmen and aspiring pilots – participated in CAP during the war years, largely without recognition or reward.  The organization was founded December 1, 1941, six days before Pearl Harbor.
 
Other World War II members from North Carolina who received the medal at the Washington D.C. ceremony include:
 
Casimir A. Barcynski of New Bern, NC, joined as a Cadet in Lebanon, PA
 
Col Martin Miller of Charlotte, NC, joined CAP in 1941 at Flushing airport, NY
 
Lt Col Raymond Kleber of Goldsboro, NC was a former Commander at Seymour Johnson AFB
 
 
Emery Overcash of More, South Carolina, served at Coastal Patrol Base 21 in Beaufort, North Carolina
 
Gilbert Russell of Granite Quarry, North Carolina, served at Coastal Patrol Base 16 in Manteo, North Carolina.
 
Also at the Washington, D.C. ceremony were the families of:
 
Vernon Rudolph, the founder of Krispy Kreme Donuts Inc.
 
Willa Brown, the first African-American woman to earn a private pilot’s license and to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the U.S.
 
Richard L. Yuengling Sr., the fourth co-president and manager of D. G. Yuengling and Son, the oldest brewery in the U.S. that’s still active today.
 
On January 7, 2015, a ceremony was held for four additional North Carolina residents in Kernersville, NC.  They were:
 
Patricia Whinnery Barber from Winston-Salem, NC, joined CAP as a cadet.  
 
Jewell Bailey Brown from Elkin, NC, participated in beach patrols while a member of CAP during World War II.  
 
Charles "Weldon" Fields, Sr., from Greensboro, NC, was a member of Coastal Patrol Base 16 in Manteo and at Tow Target Unit 21 Monogram Field in Driver, VA.
 
Paul Sigmon from Mount Holly, NC, assisted in building Coastal Patrol Base 21 in Beaufort.  He helped build the runway and served at the base until the day it closed.
 
During the war members of CAP’s coastal patrols, flying their own or borrowed planes flew 24 million miles from March 1942-August 1943 over the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in order to ward off German U-boat attacks against U.S. shipping – especially domestic oil tankers bound for Europe to help fuel the military machine.  They did so at the request of the U.S. Petroleum Industry War Council, because the U.S. Navy lacked the resources to guard against the submarine attacks and provides escorts for commercial convoys.
 
The CAP coastal patrols, flying out of 21 bases located along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to the Southern tip of Texas, spotted 173 U-boats and attacked 57.  They also escorted more than 5,600 convoys and reported 17 floating mines, 36 bodies, 91 ships in distress and 363 survivors in the water.
 
Other pioneering Civil Air Patrol members patrolled the country’s borders by air, vigilant for potential saboteurs.  In addition, they towed targets for military trainees, watched for forest fires, conducted search and rescue missions, provided disaster relief and emergency transportation of people and parts and conducted orientation flights for future pilots.
 
In all, 65 CAP members lost their lives in the line of duty by the end of the war.
 
The Senate passed legislation authorizing the Congressional Gold Medal in May 2013, with the House following suit a year later.  President Barack Obama signed the bill into law May 30, 2014.
 
“I salute CAP’s founding members for their legacy of service and sacrifice in protecting the homeland during World War II, “said Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez, CAP’s national commander.  “Now, some 73 years later, CAP’s rich history of service continues.  Modern-day members, nearly 60,000 strong, still perform vital homeland security missions, search and rescue missions and provide emergency response for natural and manmade disasters.”
 
In-depth information about CAP and its World War II missions and members, including those listed above, can be found at www.capgoldmedal.com.