RICHARD S. PUGH, LT, USN
Richard Pugh '95
Lucky Bag
From the 1995 Lucky Bag:
Richard Pugh
Temecula, California
This military brat hailing from San Diego CA turned down 2nd Luey Bars in the Army to come to Camp Navy and choose NFO. He forked over his loan for a BMW and a ring for Jeanine. In 1492..., Rugger, E-mail Lover, Whiskey Sours in Key West, Airborne!, Swamp Fox Warrior, Lapping Alabama and Ducking the Fuzz, I’ve got a joke to tell, frisbee on the mall, John’s Tlgtrs, the sand rack in Panama City, All the Way to Herndon, Sega Fights, Engagements at MUMS, put your hands on the car, Judgement! Ollies, $3000 phone bill!! THANKS Mom & Dad JM, CI, MP, KE, SS, JV KG, JS, DH for all the memories and help.
Richard Pugh
Temecula, California
This military brat hailing from San Diego CA turned down 2nd Luey Bars in the Army to come to Camp Navy and choose NFO. He forked over his loan for a BMW and a ring for Jeanine. In 1492..., Rugger, E-mail Lover, Whiskey Sours in Key West, Airborne!, Swamp Fox Warrior, Lapping Alabama and Ducking the Fuzz, I’ve got a joke to tell, frisbee on the mall, John’s Tlgtrs, the sand rack in Panama City, All the Way to Herndon, Sega Fights, Engagements at MUMS, put your hands on the car, Judgement! Ollies, $3000 phone bill!! THANKS Mom & Dad JM, CI, MP, KE, SS, JV KG, JS, DH for all the memories and help.
Loss
Richard was lost on August 9, 2001 when the F-14 Tomcat he was piloting crashed in the northern Indian Ocean. He was a member of Fighter Squadron (VF) 2, operating from USS Constellation (CV 64).
Other Information
From The San Diego Union-Tribune on August 18, 2001:
Lt. Pugh graduated from Temecula Valley High School in 1989, and graduated with distinction from Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala., where he received an associate of arts degree in mathematics.
He received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy and received a bachelor of science in ocean engineering and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy on May 31, 1995.
He earned his "Wings of Gold" on Aug. 29, 1997. He received an Air Medal for Meritorious Service in aerial flight in support of Operation Southern Watch from August to October of 1999. He also received the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation with "O," Battle "E," National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Rifle Ribbon and Pistol Ribbon.
Lt. Pugh is survived by his wife of six years, Jeanine May Bilderback Pugh of Washington Township, N.J.; daughter Ashley Elizabeth; mother and stepfather Vivian and Don Middlebrooks of Denton, Texas; father and stepmother Carl and Sandy Pugh of Temecula; brothers David and Larry Austin of Corinth, Texas, Tim Austin of Valley Center, Dale Huntington of Divide, Colo., and Kevin Huntington of Webster City, Iowa; sisters Sherri Austin of California, Julie Smyth and Cyndi Agan of Murrieta and Elizabeth Agan of Escondido; and numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Photographs
From The Californian (Temecula, California) on August 18, 2001
Remembrances
From The Californian (Temecula, California) on August 18, 2001:
Column by John Hunneman
Tuesday afternoon, a continent away, a seven-man rifle team fired three volleys, the chapel bells rang and F-14 Tomcats zoomed overhead in the “missing man” formation.
Family and friends of U.S. Navy Lt. Richard Pugh gathered at the chapel on the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia to remember the 1989 Temecula Valley High School graduate. Pugh was the radar intercept officer on an F-14 that disappeared over the Indian Ocean last week.
After an intensive effort, the Navy called off the search for Pugh and Lt. Cmdr. Robert Sides, the jet’s pilot.
“How do you mourn for a husband, a friend, who is lost at sea?” the Virginian-Pilot newspaper reported one mourner asking. “How do you know he is at rest? Where do you visit his grave?”
Pugh, 30 – a member of Fighter Squadron 2, based in Virginia – had deployed aboard the USS Constellation in March and was to return stateside next month.
The plane was taking part in routine training when radio contact was lost and it disappeared from radar screens, the Navy said.
Navy fliers are in a dangerous business, Navy chaplain Father David Holloway told mourners. But the knowledge of the risk doesn’t make the sorrow easier to bear.
Shipmates remembered a devoted father who spent long nights at sea watching home videos of his 2-year-old daughter, Ashley Elizabeth.
Pugh is also survived by his wife, Jeanine. His parents, Carl and Sandi Pugh, live in Temecula.
He has a memory marker in Arlington National Cemetery, Memorial Section C, SITE 22-O.
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