James D. Ramage

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.

James David Ramage was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on 19 July 1916, the son of David S. and Flora Groat Ramage.

He had an older half-sister Mary from his mother's first marriage, and a younger sister, Betty.

His father was a machinist by trade, who arrived in Waterloo as a salesman.

He became a farmer, but lost the farm during the Great Depression.

He then worked at the Waterloo Trust and Savings Bank until it failed, and then ran a Maxwell and Chalmers car dealership.

Ramage was educated in Waterloo at Francis Grout, McKinley School and finally East Waterloo High.

In 1934, he entered Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

That year, he was nominated for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, by the local U.S. Representative, John W. Gwynne, as an alternative candidate.

The 1934 Vinson-Trammell Act created additional vacancies at the Academy, and Ramage was appointed.

At the Academy, he acquired the nickname "Jig Dog" from the phonetic alphabet for his initials.

A graduate of the United States Naval Academy class of 1939, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) before being sent to the Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training.

He graduated from the Academy and was commissioned as an ensign on 1 June 1939.

At his request, was posted to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), which was then based in Hawaii, as a deck officer.

Through some crewmates, he met Orville Tyler, the Vice President of Bishop Bank.

Ramage married his wife, Emeleen Tyler, on 4 September 1941, before leaving for flight training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.

The United States entered World War II while Ramage was in training at Pensacola, learning to fly on N3Ns, OS2Us and finally SNJs.

On graduation in May 1942, he was posted to VS-3, a scouting squadron.

He was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 June 1942, and lieutenant on 1 August 1942.

He returned to Hawaii, where he was assigned to the cruiser USS Salt Lake City (CA-25) in November.

After some effort, he managed to get himself reassigned to the Enterprise.

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.

Ramage reported to Enterprise in Noumea in February 1943.

After qualifying to land on a carrier in Noumea in April 1943, he was assigned to Bombing Squadron Ten (VB-10), one of the carrier's two dive bomber squadrons flying the Douglas SBD Dauntless as its executive officer.

Shortly afterwards, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor for overhaul, and Ramage returned to the United States with his wife.

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 JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER 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 (CVE-115), 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 (CV-34).

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 (AV-13).

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 (CVA-62).

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.