Michael D. Trout  After attending Canoe U, Ensign Mike Trout United States Navy entered Navy preflight training at Pensacola. A year and a half-later Mike won his Naval Aviator wings-of-gold and chose to fly Attack Aviation. In the fleet Mike flew the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in Attack Squadrons such as the VA-195 Dam Busters and VA-93 Blue Blazers. As a Blue Blazer, Mike made two combat tours to Vietnam flying hundreds of combat missions over North and South Vietnam. In all Mike went down to the sea four times:
The 26 APR 1961 to 13 DEC 1961 CVG-19 tour to WestPac was on United States Ship Hancock CV-19 where Mike had 47 A-4C traps. The 05 JAN 1967 to 22 JUL 1967 CVW-5 combat tour was on United States Ship Hancock CV-19 where Mike had 89 A-4E traps. The 27 JAN 1968 to 10 OCT 1968 CVW-5 tour was from United States Ship Bon Homme Richard CVA 31 where Mike made 270 A-4F landings.  CO Mike standing behind the blackbird - smiling. In May 1976, Commander Michael D. Trout United States Navy became the twentieth VA-45 Blackbird Commanding Officer. On 01 JUL 1976, Commander, Naval Air Force, Atlantic Fleet charged Mike to develop and provide an Air Combat Maneuvering program for the Atlantic Fleet. This challenge was Mike's meat! Admiral J. L. Holloway III, the Chief of Naval Operations, recognized this when he awarded VA-45 the 1977 Naval Aviation Safety award and Plaque for the most outstanding safety record achieved among special mission squadrons in the United States Atlantic Fleet. In 1998, Mike emailed the Skyhawk Association Webmaster to offer information about the squadrons in which he flew. Soon Mike was in charge of gathering, organizing and presenting Skyhawk statistics. Later Mike took the task of recruiting and organizing Squadron Duty Officers (SDOs) for each of the squadrons that flew the Skyhawk. Little did statistic and SDO correspondents know that Mike had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Earlier, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis had struck down baseball player Lou Gehrig and ALS is now commonly known as Gehrig's disease. This brutal killer affects the spinal cord and lower brain stem. This progressively degenerates motor neurons and wastes muscles until the paralyzed patient painfully dies --- death occurring 18 months to seven years after ALS onset. When Mike first contacted the SA Webmaster in JuUN 1998 he did not expect to last until Christmas. Mike was all but paralyzed, confined to bed and waiting to die. Mike used a voice-operated computer to communicate on the Internet. In that condition he organized Skyhawk Website statistics and started communicating with people - soon he wanted to recruit and organize the Squadron Duty Officers. Doctors were perplexed why Mike didn't die - but here is a guy that flat on his back, in pain and paralyzed still found a way to make himself useful and meaningful - right up to five days before he died. What courage!!! Mike Trout is an example for all of us. Sunday, October 21, 2001, Mike Trout was bingoed to the USS Great Beyond Ready Room. There he is playing Acey-Duecy with Wade McClusky. Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams are offering sage advice. Lounging around the room in small groups are the guys:
Pancho Barnes, Estocin, Springs, Doolittle, Shea, Blackburn, Fonck, McCudden, Shepard and Halsey are playing poker. A bunch of guys are gathered at the bar tended by Lady Jessie. The Duke, O'Hare, Perry, McConnell, Voss and Scott are drinking flaming hookers while others are clustered about a piano singing lusty songs. On the patio they are servicing the Dilbert Dunker for the follies soon to follow. |