James D. Ramage
American admiral
Died when: 96 years 2 days (1152 months)Star Sign: Cancer
James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage (19 July 1916 – 21 July 2012) was a Naval Aviator in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and was a driving force in putting nuclear-capable attack aircraft aboard aircraft carriers.
Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.A graduate of the United States Naval Academy class of 1939, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise before being sent to the Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training.
He rejoined Enterprise in 1943, and became executive officer, and later commanding officer of Bombing Squadron Ten (VB-10), flying the SBD Dauntless dive bomber.
He saw his first combat in the Battle of Kwajalein in January 1944, and participated in the attack on Truk in February and landings at Hollandia in April.
During the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, he led 12 Dauntlesses and 17 other aircraft from Enterprise in a maximum-range twilight attack against the Japanese fleet, and was personally credited with crippling a Japanese aircraft carrier, probably Ryūhō.
He later commanded Bombing Squadron Ninety-Eight (VB-98), a California-based training unit.After the war, Ramage attended the first postwar class at the Naval War College, where he wrote a thesis on nuclear weapons and carrier aviation.
He became the navigator of the escort carrier USS Bairoko, and participated in Operation Sandstone at Enewetak Atoll in April and May 1948.
In March 1950, Ramage went to Sandia Base, where he was assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), writing and reviewing nuclear war plans.
After becoming jet qualified in F9F Panther, he assumed command of Carrier Air Group 19, which embarked for Korea on USS Oriskany.
He then assumed command of Composite Squadron Three (VC-3), a large composite squadron that acted as a transitional training unit.
He then became chief of the Sea Base Striking Forces Planning Unit (OP-05W) in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at The Pentagon in Washington, DC in June 1955, and then entered the National War College in July 1957.
After graduating a year later, he assumed command as Commodore of Heavy Attack Wing One (HATWING ONE), the Atlantic Fleet A-3 Skywarrior wing at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida, and then became commanding officer of the seaplane tender USS Salisbury Sound.
He returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as head of Special Weapons Plans in 1961 and, in 1963, assumed command as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Independence.
As a flag officer, he was Commander Fleet Air Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Commander Carrier Division Seven during the Vietnam War, Commander Naval Air Reserve, and Commander Tenth Naval District/Caribbean Sea Frontier/Commander Fleet Air Caribbean from 1973 to 1975.
He retired from active duty in 1975.He was involved in the ultimately successful campaign to rename Waterloo's ConWay Civic Center as the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in honor of the Sullivan brothers, and appeared in The History Channel series Battle 360, in which he recounted many of his experiences as a member of VB-10.
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