THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 16, 1995 TAG: 9509160284
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Mike Vogt was 15 when his dad's Intruder was shot down in Vietnam in 1965. By then, Mike knew he wanted to fly, too, and his father's death did not deter him.
Today Capt. Michael C. Vogt, chief of naval education and training in Pensacola, Fla., says he is a 45-year-old ``dyed-in-the-wool attack pilot.''
He, his mother, stepfather and three younger sisters were guests Friday at the dedication of Ely Memorial Park inside Gate 4 of the Norfolk Naval Air Station.
The name of Vogt's father, Cmdr. Leonard F. ``Mike'' Vogt, was among eight names inscribed on an A-6 Intruder and an F-14 Tomcat dedicated at the ceremony, which also commemorated POW/MIA Day.
The planes are the first aircraft positioned in a display destined to include helicopters, World War II era fighters and other aircraft that have been a part of the air station's history.
Ely Memorial Park is named for Eugene Ely, a civilian pilot credited with making the first ship to shore flight, just off a point of what is now the air station, in November 1910. Ely's daring act in a 50-horsepower Curtiss biplane gave birth to naval aviation.
Plans call for construction of a replica of Ely's plane, which will be placed at the end of the 3 1/2-acre park closest to point where he made his flight. Aircraft spanning the years since World War II will be positioned in chronological order throughout the grassy area.
``This park puts bookends on naval aviation, from its start to the end of the Cold War,'' said Capt. Daniel J. Franken, the air station's commanding officer.
``It's a memorial to the contributions of the Navy and its families, and it's a display taxpayers can see.''
Franken said the idea of a display and park came about ``in an effort to close the chapter on NADEP's work to maintain and make combat ready the Navy's aircraft. We wanted a tribute to the work that was done.''
The Norfolk Naval Aviation Depot is scheduled to close in September 1996. The facility was ordered closed by the 1993 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
Each of the two planes standing in Ely Park contains aviators' names, chosen because they were ``significant people in the A-6 and F-14 communities,'' Franken said.
The names of Cmdr. Vogt and Lt. Robert F. ``Red'' Barber, navigator, are inscribed on the Intruder; the officers were shot down on the same flight.
Four names appear on the Tomcat and are those of World War II era naval aviators. They were Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Blackburn, Lt. Cmdr. Roger Hedrick, Lt. Ira Kepford and Ensign Jack Ernie.
The fighter plane chosen for the display is one from VF-84, ``Jolly Rogers,'' whose 52-year-old insignia is a famed skull and crossbones. The squadron will be dissolved at the end of this month.
``I chose the Jolly Rogers because they embody what the public thinks of when it thinks of F-14s and naval aviation - the skull and crossbones,'' said Capt. Dale Snodgrass, commanding officer of all fighter pilots stationed on the East Coast.
He said the squadron is so famous that he has designated another squadron, VF-103, to become the Jolly Rogers after the VF-84 is dissolved.
Snodgrass has a special connection to ``Victory 200,'' the Tomcat chosen for Ely Park: It was the first F-14 he flew as a young lieutenant. He flew the same aircraft later, as executive officer and commanding officer of VF-33.
And he piloted the plane, he said, ``on the first night over Bagdhad,'' during Desert Storm.
Ely Memorial Park is ``an absolutely tremendous tribute to the A-6 and F-14 communities,'' said Vogt. ``It's appropriate for them to be displayed where they have been so much a part of Norfolk's skyline.'' ILLUSTRATION: Memorial to the Navy and its families
[Color Photos]
BILL TIERNAN
Staff
A dedication ceremony was held Friday at Ely Memorial Park inside
Gate 4 of the Norfolk Naval Air Station.
Nancy Nolan, left, whose late husband, Cmdr. Leonard F. ``Mike''
Vogt, was downed in Vietnam in 1965, watches Friday's ceremony with
her husband, John, and Vogt's daughter, Mary Jane Suter, right, and
his granddaughter, Mikela, 4.
by CNB