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North Carolina Wing Civil Air Patrol Honors Local Congressional Gold Medal Recipients

Col Larry Ragland, Civil Air Patrol National Executive Officer presents Lt Col Clive Goodwin, Jr., the bronze replica of the Congressional Gold Medal as Col David Crawford, CAP NC Wing Commander looks on.
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Col Larry Ragland, Civil Air Patrol National Executive Officer presents Lt Col Clive Goodwin, Jr., the bronze replica of the Congressional Gold Medal as Col David Crawford, CAP NC Wing Commander looks on. Photo Credit: Lt Col Lisa Armour, CAP, Franklin County Composite Squadron (NC-145) PAO (click image to view full size)
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Two Local Heroes Receive Bronze Replica Medals

2/7/2015–

 On February 7, 2015, the North Carolina Wing Civil Air Patrol recognized two of Civil Air Patrol’s founding members; Lt Col Clive Goodwin, and 2nd Lt Annie Stevenson Hyde as recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal. The presentation ceremony took place at Total Flight Solutions located at the Triangle North Executive Airport near Louisburg, NC. Over sixty people including family, friends and Civil Air Patrol members gathered at the venue where the Franklin County Composite Squadron meets, to participate in the ceremony honoring the recipients.
 
 
The ceremony began with the Franklin County Composite Squadron cadets posting the Colors followed by the singing of the national anthem by Jennifer Seiger, Adjunct Music Instructor at the North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.  Major Richard Netherby, CAP Commander of the Franklin County Composite Squadron welcomed the guests and invited Squadron Chaplain, Capt Shannon Maness, CAP to give the invocation.  Chaplain Maness said, “We are gathered here today to honor brave individuals who stepped forward to give of their time and talents to their county in a time of great need.” He prayed that they have good health and continued long life so they may share their wisdom, encouragement and experiences to inspire all of us to faithfully serve our community, state and nation.  
 
Major Netherby then invited Civil Air Patrol North Carolina Wing Commander, Col David Crawford to continue the ceremony. Col Crawford thanked the audience for attending the ceremony to honor two of the local founding members of the Civil Air Patrol. He recognized the special guests who were attending the ceremony including Bill Tatum, Town Administrator for the town of Youngsville, Rep. Jeff Collins of the NC House of Representatives and Eric Naisbitt, aide to NC State Senator Chad Barefoot.
 
In his remarks Col Crawford provided the audience an overview of the history of the Civil Air Patrol and the story of the founding members during World War II and the years following the end of the war.  Col Crawford said, “The rich history of service of Civil Air Patrol during World War II was finally recognized by Congress after many years of effort with the passage of a bill to award the Congressional Gold medal to the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol”. He told the audience that the Congressional Gold Medal was accepted by CAP National Commander Major General Joseph Vazquez and WWII member Lester Wolff on behalf of the WWII members of Civil Air Patrol on December 10, 2014 at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Forty-six living recipients and the families of the fifty-five deceased members received their individual bronze replica medals at a banquet reception later that day.
 
Colonel Crawford then invited Colonel Larry Ragland, Civil Air Patrol’s National Executive Officer to assist him in the presentation of the bronze replica medals to the two members. He read the biography of each member as they were called up to receive their medals.
 
Clive Goodwin, Jr., 88, of Youngsville was with the New York Wing where he was a pilot and searched for downed military aircraft, looked for forest fires and was an aircraft spotter.  He used his experience flying in CAP to help him get into the Army/Air Force.  After his military service, he worked for Precision Air and eventually the General Electric Company.  He is active in CAP with the Franklin County Composite Squadron and is still an active pilot.
 
Annie Stevenson Hyde, 91, of Roanoke Rapids, served with the Rocky Mount squadron in 1944-45.  She attended classes and participated in drill while with the squadron.  After CAP, Mrs. Hyde graduated from East Carolina Teachers College (ECTC) in Greenville, NC.  She was a home economics teacher for most of her 39 years of teaching.  Mrs. Hyde started teaching in Rocky Mount at Benvenue School.  She spent her last 37 years teaching at William R. Davie (all in the same room) teaching home economics and the last few years teaching career explorations.
 
Col Ragland encouraged the audience to ask each recipient their story and said that everyone will be amazed with what they hear. He added that these personal stories, associated with that time in our country’s history, are very relevant today in many ways.
 
After the presentations, Col Crawford reflected that it had been his privilege as the North Carolina Wing Commander to attend the presentation on Capitol Hill and participate in several local presentation ceremonies. The once in a lifetime opportunity allowed him to meet and converse with several of our WW II founding members.  He added, “North Carolina has thirty-one confirmed recipients on the list which is the largest number in any state and we have honored the ten living recipients that we are aware of”.
 
Major Netherby presented a bouquet of flowers to Mary Lou Goodwin; wife of Lt Col Goodwin, Jr. Col Crawford then invited Lt Col Goodwin, Jr. and 2nd Lt Annie Stevenson Hyde to say a few words to the audience about their personal experiences during WWII and their service after the war. While making her comments 2nd Lt Hyde displayed the original uniform she wore during her service in Civil Air Patrol; which she later donated for permanent display at the North Carolina Wing Headquarters in Burlington, NC.
 
Col Crawford recognized Lt Col Lisa Armour, Franklin County Composite Squadron PAO and her team for the attention to the details of the ceremony and the reception that was to follow.
 
The audience stood at attention as the Franklin County Composite Squadron cadets retired the Colors.