Mighty Thunder is proud to pay tribute to Clyde Everett Lassen with many thanks to Bruce Herman for letting us learn about Clyde.  Clyde became the first naval aviator and fifth Navy man to be awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in Vietnam.

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DA NANG, Vietnam (Nov. 7, 2009) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82) anchors during a scheduled port visit in Da Nang. Cmdr. H.B. Le, commanding officer of Lassen is visiting Vietnam for the first time since he and his family fled the country in 1975. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Daniel Viramontes/Released)

USS Lassen (DDG-82) is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Medal of Honor recipient Commander Clyde Everett Lassen. This ship is the 32nd destroyer of its class. USS Lassen was the 14th ship of this class to be built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and construction began on 24 August 1998. She was launched and christened on 16 October 1999. On 21 April 2001, she was commissioned at the Florida Aquarium Pier in Tampa, Florida. She was homeported in San Diego until she shifted homeport to Yokosuka Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan in August 2005. In January 2016, she moved to Naval Station Mayport in Mayport, Florida. 

NAS Whiting Field Remembers Navy Hero

Story Number: NNS170120-01Release Date: 1/20/2017 7:59:00 AM

By Jamie Link, Naval Air Station Whiting Field Public Affairs

MILTON, Fla. (NNS) — Naval Air Station Whiting Field remembered a true hero and patriot during a ceremony renaming the base auditorium as the CDR Clyde E. Lassen Auditorium Jan. 17.

Lassen was the only Navy helicopter pilot to earn the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. The ceremony was also a highlight of the installation’s ongoing commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

Following a multimedia presentation honoring Lassen’s heroic efforts, guest speaker retired Capt. Dick Catone, former Training Air Wing 5 commodore, shared personal memories of Lassen and fondly recounted Lassen’s humility and character.

“Clyde was a very humble man; his loyalty to his country, family, and fellow shipmates epitomize his life,” Catone said. “If he were here, Clyde would tell you, ‘I was just doing my job like any other helicopter pilot.’ His life is an inspiration to all who were fortunate to have known him.”

Late in the night, Lassen and his crew were sent to rescue two downed aviators who were shot down over North Vietnam, June 19, 1968. Running low on fuel in a damaged UH-2 Seasprite helicopter, the team successfully pulled the pilots out on the fifth attempt. It was the first nighttime helicopter rescue attempt over Vietnam.

Prior to being commissioned, Lassen received his enlisted training at NAS Pensacola. After concluding his service in the Vietnam War, he served as an instructor pilot in the local area and ended his Navy career as Helicopter Squadron (HT) 8 commanding officer.

Among the ceremony’s attendees were several of Lassen’s squadron mates from Navy Helicopter Combat Support Squadron (HC) 7, with whom he served in Vietnam. Following the ceremony, the men assisted Commanding Officer Capt. Todd Bahlau with the unveiling of the new building facade, featuring backlit wings of gold and lettering indicating the auditorium’s new designation in Lassen’s honor.

The auditorium serves as the location where 100 percent of the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps rotary wing aviators receive their wings of gold designating them as naval aviators. Training Air Wing 5 holds winging ceremonies every two weeks onboard NAS Whiting Field, the busiest air complex in the world, which produces more than 600 winged aviators per year.

Hill Goodspeed, National Naval Aviation Museum historian, served as the featured speaker at the event. Goodspeed attended the 25th reunion for Lassen’s crew and the two rescued pilots in 1993 at the museum, and shared his memories of the men reminiscing about that daring rescue. He spoke about how Lassen humbly recounted the details of the mission, 25 years earlier to the day. According to the historian, everyone present was mesmerized by Lassen’s retelling of the story.

“In disbelief, we listened as Lassen told of the sudden darkness as the last of the flares extinguished, and the jolt of the Seasprite striking a tree as he attempted to maneuver to a position from which the downed aviators could be hoisted aboard,” Goodspeed said.

He went on to explain how Lassen reacted to the appreciation, after returning safely from the rescue mission.

“When safely on deck, Lieutenant Commander John ‘Zeke’ Burns (one of the rescued F-4 Phantom II pilots) tapped Lassen on the shoulder to thank him,” Goodspeed added. “‘He replied, just as cool as a cucumber,’ Burns remembered, ‘We’ve been over here several months now — nice to have something to do.'”

Goodspeed told those present at the dedication Lassen “fulfilled that obligation held sacred by all who serve, to come to the aid of comrades in arms with a willingness to put himself in danger in the process. That is the legacy of the Medal of Honor and those who wear it. That is the legacy of Commander Clyde Everett Lassen.”

Whiting Field to Name Auditorium for Vietnam Hero

By Melissa Nelson Gabriel

Pensacola News Journal

January 12, 2017

The Whiting Field Naval Air Station auditorium where hundreds of Navy, Marine and Coast Guard flight students receive their coveted flight wings every year is being named to honor former Whiting helicopter instructor and Medal of Honor recipient Navy Cmdr. Clyde Lassen.

Lassen, who died in 1994, flew his helicopter into North Vietnam and rescued two Navy pilots while taking enemy fire during the harrowing 1968 mission that led to his Medal of Honor recognition. He was the first Navy helicopter pilot to receive the nation’s highest military honor for action in the Vietnam War.

A Whiting flight training building previously named for Lassen was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and had to be bulldozed, said Jay Cope, spokesman for the base.

Cope said base officials wanted to do something else to recognize Lassen, who became a helicopter training squadron commander at Whiting Field after his time in Vietnam.

“Every two weeks, the helicopter students who graduate from our program get their wings in a ceremony at the auditorium,” Cope said. “We thought it was the appropriate place to honor him.”

A display case in the auditorium lobby contains personal items donated to the base by Lassen’s family. The display also includes audio recordings made of radio communications during Lassen’s Medal of Honor mission.

According to Lassen’s citation, the downed pilots ran out of flares used to indicate their location on the ground.

“When flare illumination was again lost, Lt. Lassen, fully aware of the dangers in clearly revealing his position to the enemy, turned on his landing lights and completed the landing. On this attempt, the survivors were able to make their way to the helicopter. En route to the coast he encountered and successfully evaded additional hostile antiaircraft fire and, with fuel for only 5 minutes of flight remaining, landed safely aboard USS Jouett,” the citation stated.

Retired Navy Capt. Dick Catone was a longtime friend of Lassen’s and a fellow Vietnam-era helicopter pilot.

Catone, who also served as a training wing commander at Whiting, plans to attend the auditorium dedication ceremony at the base Tuesday and speak about Lassen.

Catone said Lassen was a phenomenal pilot who was able to share what he learned in combat with hundreds of young flight students to better prepare them for what they might experience in their military careers.

“Clyde’s philosophy was that he wanted to give each student the opportunity to reach their pinnacle,” Catone said. “You don’t want to scare the students, but you want them to know why we are training. You never know what you might have to do; you are a warrior, you are going into harm’s way, and you have to be prepared as best you can.”

Lassen’s Medal of Honor mission is an example of making quick decisions, finding solutions to problems and accepting risks to save others, he said.

“He was flying an old, single-engine helicopter. He was out there in the middle of the night for the sole purpose of rescuing the aviators. When he put on his landing lights it made him a great big target, but he was able to do the rescue,” Catone said.

“He is a hero to many of us.”

Medal of Honor Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as pilot and aircraft commander of a search-and-rescue helicopter, attached to Helicopter Support Squadron 7, during operations against enemy forces in North Vietnam. Launched shortly after midnight to attempt the rescue of two downed aviators, Lt. (then Lt. (j.g.) Lassen skillfully piloted his aircraft over unknown and hostile terrain to a steep, tree-covered hill on which the survivors had been located. Although enemy fire was being directed at the helicopter, he initially landed in a clear area near the base of the hill, but, due to the dense undergrowth, the survivors could not reach the helicopter. With the aid of flare illumination, Lt. Lassen successfully accomplished a hover between two trees at the survivors’ position. Illumination was abruptly lost as the last of the flares were expended, and the helicopter collided with a tree, commencing a sharp descent. Expertly righting his aircraft and maneuvering clear, Lt. Lassen remained in the area, determined to make another rescue attempt, and encouraged the downed aviators while awaiting resumption of flare illumination. After another unsuccessful, illuminated rescue attempt, and with his fuel dangerously low and his aircraft significantly damaged, he launched again and commenced another approach in the face of the continuing enemy opposition. When flare illumination was again lost, Lt. Lassen, fully aware of the dangers in clearly revealing his position to the enemy, turned on his landing lights and completed the landing. On this attempt, the survivors were able to make their way to the helicopter. En route to the coast he encountered and successfully evaded additional hostile antiaircraft fire and, with fuel for only five minutes of flight remaining, landed safely aboard U.S.S. Jouett (DLG-29).