* Great great great grandfather: Josiah Dickson
The military tradition in my family extends back at least to the Revolutionary War.
One of my great-great-great grandfathers is Josiah Dickson. Born in Scotland, Josiah came to America just before the start of the Revolutionary War. In 1775, he enlisted in the Continental Army. 1776 and the start of the War found him in Pittsburgh, where he was detailed to a party of five to take supplies down the Ohio River to outposts in Kentucky. Two of the party were mounted; three, including Josiah, were on foot. While in Kentucky, a band of Shawnee Indians attacked the party. During the skirmish, the two horsemen escaped, one of those on foot was killed and the other two men on foot, including Josiah, were captured.
The prisoners were at first harshly treated by the Indians, but later, conditions improved. Josiah and the other prisoner remained with the Shawnee for about 18 months. Then they were taken to Detroit, where the Indians sold the prisoners to British forces for a bundle of store goods.
Josiah remained in Detroit for some time, during which he had relative freedom, only having to check in with British authorities morning and night. During the day, he could hire out to do work. This portion of his prisoner experience came to an end when he and another prisoner came under suspicion of plotting an escape. They were placed in irons and taken to a prison in Quebec, where he remained for about a year. Once, during the midst of a Quebec winter, several of Josiah's fellow prisoners escaped the prison, but Josiah declined to join them.
From Quebec, he was taken in a prison ship to the West Indies (exact location uncertain) where he and his fellow prisoners suffered greatly. He remained in the ship until he gained his liberty after the British defeat at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
After the war, he settled first in Kentucky and then Missouri. He died in 1834 at the age of 84, survived by his wife Isabella, and ten children (seven sons and three daughters).
Information on Josiah Dickson comes from a long letter written by his son John, based on conversations with his father, to John's niece Harriet Powers and from testimony, recorded in legal proceedings, that Josiah gave in support of his application for a veteran's pension in 1832.
I am descended from Josiah Dickson through his daughter Margaret, who married David Adams in 1807.
* My father, Roger
W. Mehle, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 16, 1915.
He died on August 30, 1997. A 1933 graduate of Cincinnati's Walnut
High School, he was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1933 and commissioned
as an ensign in June of 1937. After serving a junior officer tour
on the battleship New Mexico, he reported to flight training at Pensacola
in July of 1939. In the Fall of 1940, he reported to Fighting Squadron
Six, flying F-3Fs off the USS Enterprise (CV-6).
He was at sea on the Enterprise when the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In the immediate
aftermath of Pearl Harbor, he flew the F-4F Wildcat in fierce action over
the Marshall and Gilbert Islands and was fleeted up to Executive Officer
of Fighting Six. He received his first Distinguished Flying Cross from Admiral Chester Nimitz, CINCPAC, on the flight deck of Enterprise for his part
in those campaigns. My father is third from the right in ranks in the
first picture (after award of the DFC) and fourth from the right in the second (before award) See photos. Halsey was aboard, but Nimitz conferred decorations on my father and several others that day.
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Roger Mehle third from right
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Roger Mehle fourth from right
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A remark that Nimitz made to my father foreshadowing the Battle of Midway -- which the rank and file did not know was coming -- is often cited in historical
accounts of the event -- "I think you'll have a chance to earn another medal in a couple of days." See, e.g., http://www.usswashington.com/dl24ma42.htm .
At the Battle of Midway, he shot down his fifth
enemy aircraft, thus becoming one of the Navy's first World War II "aces".
In the Spring of 1944, returning from flight
instructor duty in Florida, he reported for a second combat tour in the
Pacific as Commander, Air Group 28, and Commanding Officer, Fighting Squadron
28, flying F-6F Hellcats off the USS Monterey (CVL 26). He participated
in wide ranging combat operations, both air-to-air and air-to-ground, over
Tinian, the Marianas, the Philipine Sea, Wake Island, the Carolines, the
Philipines, and Formosa. He was awarded the Silver Star and a second
Distinguished Flying Cross for these actions. Ultimately, he earned
the designation of "double ace", with 13½ air victories, two additional
probable victories, 24 aircraft destroyed on the ground, and thousands
of tons of enemy shipping sunk.
In early 1945, he was appointed project officer
of the fighter design branch of the Bureau of Aeronautics, and participated
in the development and introduction of jet fighter aircraft of various
configurations into Naval Aviation. In 1955, having served as Executive
Officer of the USS Coral Sea (CVA 43), he was promoted to captain, and
in 1957 took command of the USS Cape Esperance (CVU 88) in the Pacific.
In 1960, he assumed command of the USS Saratoga (CVA 60), cruising the
Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Promoted to rear admiral in 1964, he commanded
Carrier Divisions One and Five in the Pacific in 1967, and served as Commander,
Attack Carrier Striking Force (CTF-77), embarked on the USS Forrestal (CVA
59), which conducted the Navy's strike operations against military targets
in North and South Viet Nam.
In 1968, Rear Admiral Mehle was assigned
as Commander, Fleet Air Norfolk, and subsequently commanded the Naval Safety
Center until his retirement from active duty in 1970.
* Grandfather: Captain Francis
L. Chadwick, USN (Ret) , Class of 1893. Embarked in USS
Raleigh at the Battle of Manila Bay. Served during WWI and retired
in Norfolk. Deceased 1941.
* Father: Rear Admiral Benjamin
E. Moore, USN (Ret), Class of 1927. Became an Aviator
in 1930. CO, VP-81 in Jacksonville in 1942. Navigator and XO
of USS Franklin (CV-13) in 1944. Silver
Star for directing fire fighting after a kamikaze hit in Leyte Gulf.
CO, Thetis Bay (CVE-90) in 1945. CO, USS Boxer (CV-21)in 1953-1954.
Selected RAdm in 1954. Was first Commander of the Pacific Barrier
in 1959 at the same time that Brev
Moore's father had the Atlantic Barrier. Served at COMFAIR Hawaii,
Quonset Point, and Mediterranean. Bill
Carmichael was his aide in Naples. Assistant DCNO Logistics (OP-04B)
in 1962-1963. Retired 1966. Deceased 1982.
