GARWOOD W. BACON, LT, USN
Garwood Bacon '68
Lucky Bag
From the 1968 Lucky Bag:
GARWOOD WILLIAM BACON
Palmyra, New Jersey
Garwood reported to USNA 2 weeks after his graduation from Palmyra H.S., Palmyra, N.J. as class valedictorian. He was a valuable addition to the plebe baseball team and distinguished himself in the academic field, earning a place on the Dean's list several times. His fine performance, versatility, and friendly disposition enabled him to attain the position of Company Commander his first class year. Those who knew him will remember him as always ready to provide a little entertainment. A student of aeronautical engineering, he aspired to be a naval aviator, assuming he can overcome an acute suffering from motion sickness (He has been known to get seasick on the YP's). G. hopes to be accepted eventually as an astronaut, and should make a fine member of our nation's space team.
He was also a member of the 5th Company staff (1st and 3rd sets).
GARWOOD WILLIAM BACON
Palmyra, New Jersey
Garwood reported to USNA 2 weeks after his graduation from Palmyra H.S., Palmyra, N.J. as class valedictorian. He was a valuable addition to the plebe baseball team and distinguished himself in the academic field, earning a place on the Dean's list several times. His fine performance, versatility, and friendly disposition enabled him to attain the position of Company Commander his first class year. Those who knew him will remember him as always ready to provide a little entertainment. A student of aeronautical engineering, he aspired to be a naval aviator, assuming he can overcome an acute suffering from motion sickness (He has been known to get seasick on the YP's). G. hopes to be accepted eventually as an astronaut, and should make a fine member of our nation's space team.
He was also a member of the 5th Company staff (1st and 3rd sets).
Loss
Garwood was lost on August 23, 1975 when the A-6E Intruder he was piloting was impacted by another aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean. His bombardier-navigator was also killed.
Other Information
From Wikipedia:
A Grumman A-6E Intruder, BuNo 149948, 'AJ-500', of VA-35, and an McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II from USS Nimitz collide in midair over the Atlantic Ocean during a refueling maneuver ~600 miles SSW of Scotland. A spokesman said that the two crew of the A-6 were missing and presumed dead while the two Marine crew of the F-4J were recovered. Killed in the accident was the pilot of the A-6, Lt. Garwood Bacon of Riverton, New Jersey, as well as the navigator, Lt. Craig Renshaw of Middletown, Pennsylvania. Lt. Bacon was survived by his wife, Ruthellen (Welker) Bacon and his son, Garwood W. Bacon, Jr., born three weeks after his father's death. Lt. Bacon graduated from the U.S Naval Academy in 1968, was a Guggenheim Fellow at Princeton in Aerospace engineering, had worked with the Houston Space Center, and was likely to be named pilot of the first or second space shuttle.
The last sentence is cited to "United Press International, "Two Navy Planes Crash in Midair", Playground Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Tuesday 26 August 1975, Volume 30, Number 172, page 4A."
According to the accident report, the F-4 had just finished refueling when it pulled up alongside, started to break away, and then abruptly flew in front of Garwood's A-6. The F-4's tail impacted the cockpit area of Garwood's aircraft, which rolled and dove into the Atlantic.
A memorial marker for Garwood is located in Beverly National Cemetery, NJ.
Shipmate
From the December 1975 issue of Shipmate:
Lt. Garwood William Bacon USN was lost at sea off the coast of Scotland as the result of a mid-air collision during a refueling exercise on 23 August 1975. Memorial services were held on 26 August in the Calvary Presbyterian Church of Riverton, New Jersey.
Entering the Naval Academy from the State of New Jersey, he was graduated in the Class of 1968. He later earned a masters degree in aerospace engineering at Princeton University on a Guggenheim Fellowship. After having taken aviation training he was assigned various squadrons where he earned the "Tail Hook Award" for excellence in carrier landings and a "Bull's Eye Award" for accuracy in target bombing. He also developed an intercom system for use in spacecraft training during summer internship at the NASA Space Center in Houston.
At the time of the fatal accident he was attached to Attack Squadron 35 at the Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, and was flying from the USS Nimitz. He was to have been named pilot of the year by Attack Squadron 42, a specialized A-6 Intruder aircraft training unit.
He is survived by his widow, Ruthellen, of Virginia Beach; a son, Garwood W. Jr.; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. Garwood Bacon, Jr. of Riverton; and his grandmother and four brothers including Midn. Glenn Bacon USN '77.
Career
While at the Academy, Garwood was selected as one of four Plebes from his company to march in the inaugural parade of Lyndon B. Johnson in January, 1965.
From the The Philadelphia Inquirer, on August 28, 1975, Page 23:
Navy Lt. Garwood W. Bacon always said he wanted to be the first man to land on Mars. As a child in Riverton, N. J., he spent a lot of time looking through telescopes, and after graduating from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1968 he spent a summer internship at the NASA Space Center in Houston, where he developed an intercom system used in a spacecraft trainer.
And from the Courier-Post of Camden, NJ, on August 26, 1975, Page 12:
During his stint in the Navy, Lt. Bacon had served on three Naval bases and had been selected "instructor of the month" while stationed in Meridian, Miss.
Photographs
From the December 1975 issue of Shipmate.
Related Articles
Daniel Still '68 and Philip Clark, Jr. '68 were also in 5th Company.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
