Page 6 - DFCS News Magazine Winter 2015

Avenue of Heroes
By Chuck Sweeney
The city of Coronado, California has always been known as a military town and that s ll holds true today. A couple of years ago it was de- cided to make Third Street and Fourth Street the Avenue of Heroes since they are the main routes to and from NAS North Island, “The Birthplace of Naval Avia on”. A program was set up to select the induc- tees and display banners honoring each inductee from the light poles along both streets. The rst banners were placed on the poles before Memorial Day this year, and the second set were in place be- fore Veterans Day. The banners are changed ap- proximately every six months (Memorial Day and Veterans Day). The inductees must have military service and have been a resident of Coronado at some period of me, as well as mee ng various cri- teria established by the commi ee.
Diz Receiving the Plaque from Mayor Tanaka
The Diz Laird Banner
he President of the United States
takes great pleasure in presen ng the Dis nguished Flying Cross to Lieu- tenant Dean S. Laird for heroism and
extraordinary achievement while par cipa ng in aerial ight as Pilot of a Fighter Plane in Figh ng Squadron Four, a ached to the USS Essex in ac- on against enemy Japanese forces in the Tokyo area, February 17, 1945. While protec ng friendly bomber planes a acking heavily defended air- cra engine factories, Lieutenant Laird engaged and destroyed two hos le ghter aircra , there- by assis ng materially in the accomplishment of the assigned mission. His airmanship and devo- on to duty were in keeping with the highest tra- di ons of the United States Naval Service.
Three of the seventeen inductees for Veterans Day 2015 are DFC Society members; Jimmy Dooli le, Art O’Keefe and Dean “Diz” Laird. In addi on, another inductee, Charles Laws, is the father of Jon Laws who drives the Old Town Trolley for the DFC Society in the two parades every year. Diz is a WWII Navy Ace who is the only Navy Ace to shoot down both German and Japanese aircra , as well as ying the simulated Japanese aircra in the movie “Tora, Tora, Tora”. He also ew 32 Marine
A-6s across the Paci c to and from Vietnam.
Diz was inducted on Saturday, November 7th at a ceremony conducted by the Mayor of Coronado, Casey Tanaka, and Diz was one of two living induc- tees. The ceremony was a ended by some of his family and a few friends (the number a ending was restricted by the small size of the facility). It was quite an honor for Diz as he is a Navy, San Diego and Coronado Icon. It was a very nice event and a well- deserved honor for Diz. His banner is at the corner of Fourth Street and Orange Ave, which is the busi- est intersec on in Coronado.
Several other inductees are also DFC recipients and, hopefully, I can convince the other living inductee and the families of the deceased inductees to join the DFC Society.
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