Lest We Forget - 'Guard and Guide Those Who Fly'

This coming fall, the Naval Institute Press will publish a book by retired Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn. Although he is an accomplished writer with many articles in professional journals and newspapers to his credit, this will be his first book.

Like many other veterans with colorful careers, Admiral Dunn could have chosen to write about his many achievements as a naval aviator. Few who have worn Wings of Gold have accomplished more in the cockpit. He is a natural flyer who piloted fighters and attack aircraft—including the AD Skyraider, the A-4 Skyhawk, and the F-4 Phantom—as well as helicopters and sail planes. His flying spanned many decades, accumulating more than 9,000 hours and 934 carrier landings, which was capped by ten “traps” in an F/A-18 Hornet on his 60th birthday.

Bob Dunn could have chosen to write about his 255 combat missions in the skies over Vietnam, or he might have told some of the stories behind his two Distinguished Service Medals, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, four Meritorious Service Medals, the Air Medal with four gold stars and 28 bronze stars, and four Navy Commendation Medals with Combat “V” and seven stars.