Antietam (CVA 36) - Naval Cruise Book

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if if 'V if-e, rf ,X 5, 'r ' I . w i R l P i i CDR. J.D. Blitch was attached to the USS ANTIETAM in November 1952 and served continuously as Executive Officer throughout this Canted Deck Evaluation Cruise. Born in 1914 in Charleston, S. C. , he received his commission at the Naval Academy in 1936. In 1939 he was designated a Naval Aviator at Pensacola. CDR, Blitch was engaged in action from the very first day of World War II. While assigned to Bombing Squadron Six aboard the USS -ENTERPRISE, he participated in combat at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Except for one year, he remained in the Pacific Theater participating in practically every major raid from the Marshall Islands, right up to Oki- nawa and the homelands of Japan. CDR. LD. Blitch was singled out on numerous missions for his, Heroic conduct and meritorious achievements. In addition to the Navy Cross, Silver Star Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross with two Gold Stars, Bronze Star Medal, and the Air Medal with five Gold Stars, Commander Blitch has Ribbons for, and facsimiles of, the Presidential Unit Citation to the USS ENTERPRISE Qwith starj and the Navy Unit Commendation to the USS WASP fwith two starsj, and the Purple Heart Medal for wounds received in combat. I-Ie also has the American Defense Service Medal with one star, Asiatic-Pa- cific-Campaign Medal with seven stars, the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liber ation Ribbon with two stars, and the Expert Rifleman's Medal. After the war, he fulfilled such assignments as: Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Facility, Bermuda, Operations Officer at Patuxent River, Md., Commander of Air Group Two. Prior to his attachment to the USS ANTIETAM, CDR. LD. Blitch was assigned to the staff of Commander, Carrier Division Six. ll

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r v , i ,yi , E ,, , r 2 1 ' i , , is I ls 2 l l ' l 1 l 1 , it ll lli I I, li 11 1 ell 1 , I 1 P Q l s 4 , l , , r 1 I 1 3 1 1 i I I I 1 r I 1 ,gi l . 1 Captain S. G. Mitchell will be recorded in history as the first Skipper of a Canted Carrier, and also as the first Pilot to land on a canted flight deck. Captain Mitchell assumed command of the USS ANTIETAM in September 1952, while lille shiP was in the Brooklyn NaVY Yard undergoing construction of the new canted deck. He remained as Commanding Offl' cer of the ANTIETAM throughout this Canted Deck Evaluation Cruise. Bom in Tennessee in 1904, Captain Mitchell was graduated from Annapolis in 1927. Three years later he received his wings at Pensacola. During the past World War, he served aboard the USS HORNET until she was sunk in 1942 in the Battle of Santa Cruz. Other duties found Captain Mitchell serving as Commanding Officer of Cecil Field, the USS CORREGIDOR CVE 58 and CASU-1 at Barber's Point, Hawaii and also the USS WOLVERINE., Captain Mitchellwas awarded the Am the Presidential Citation with one star, the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. In the Reserve Fleet, he was Commanding Officer of Sub Group One, at Norfolk Va. Later he became the Guided 1 Missile Representative of the Western District in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. Captain Mitchell was on the staff of We He was Commanding Officer of the USS SHANGRI-LA CVA 38 from April to September of 1952. erican Defense Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three battle St-US, stern Sea Frontier from February, 1950 to March: 1952' . ' ,' ' '. - -. Ji r' --, le- v- ' '1.-A - . - , . 1 ,,i .n..ulJ+ ,.q'v.1ALNHL!1-i'.4,' l -' 'el-.f..:.4:.l :rin---f.L-:4,L.i-isnfe--f- ...3,u1-51--..4.,.za..1:n Mil, ..:1n..u!C-Fuzz. -,., L, - .., 1 '4--. ....- v.. v-,.. -. 1.2 ,- , - . , . 1 ' '

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