AWARDED DFC: 1
CONFLICT/SPACE FLIGHT/EVENT:  -
MODEL:  -

Citation:  1.) The former U.S. Marine Corps pilot flew dive bombers in the Pacific during WW2 because of a bureaucratic oversight he was finally presented his two Distinguished Flying Crosses and nine Air Medals by Brigadier General E. C. Kelly Jr. at a ceremony attended by his wife Marjorie. Newson was one of the first pilots assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station in Santa Barbara, California and started flying SBC-4 dive-bombers, a fabric-covered two-wing plane built by Curtis. Shortly afterward the squadron began flying the SBD-3 Douglas Dauntless, the dive-bomber used during the five Solomon Island battles. In 1943 Newson's squadron spent five months at Midway Island where he completed 89 submarine combat patrols. After Midway he was sent to Henderson Field in Guadalcanal and spent three combat tours as the Division Leader of dive-bombers in all five of the Solomon Island battles. "Naturally you are scared, but you've also excited when flying in combat. We were all in the same boat so we just concentrated on the job we were asked to do." Newson called his experience in the military "the best thing that ever happened to me. It gave me a better understanding of people and of the tools needed for leadership. Plus I received training that proved invaluable to me throughout-out my life." In a note to the Society he wrote that he must have set some kind of record since he was 77 years old when he was presented two Distinguished Flying Crosses and nine Air Medals. Congratulations to Noble Newson member Distinguished Flying Cross Society.