Illustration on Defense Department interference with the Navy by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times
Entertainer Ed McMahon hoped to become a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot. Prior to the US entry into World War II, however, both the Army and Navy required two years of college for their pilots program. McMahon enrolled into classes at Boston College and studied there from 1940-41. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, the college requirement was dropped, and McMahon immediately applied for Marine flight training. His primary flight training was in Dallas, followed by fighter training in Pensacola, where he also earned his carrier landing qualifications. He was a Marine Corps flight instructor for two years, finally being ordered to the Pacific fleet in 1945. However, his orders were canceled after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forcing Japan's surrender. As an officer in the reserves, McMahon was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. This time, he flew the OE-1, an unarmed single-engine spotter plane. He functioned as an artillery spotter for the Marine batteries on the ground and as a forward controller for the Navy and Marine fighter bombers. He flew a total of 85 combat missions, earning six Air Medals. After the war, he stayed with the Marines, as a reserve officer, retiring in 1966 as a colonel
A commuter watches Marines block the area where a suspected drug gang leader and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in southern Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Marines block the area where a suspected drug gang leader and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in the Tlahuac neighborhood of Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Women make their way past police surrounding the Noplera metro after the suspected leader of a drug gang and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in the Tlahuac neighborhood of Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
ADDS LOCATION - People watch security forces gather around the Nopalera metro station in the area where a suspected drug gang leader and seven others were killed earlier in the day, according to the Navy, in the Tlahuac neighborhood of Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Marines block access to the site where the suspected leader of a drug gang and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in southern Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A commuter watches Marines block the area where the suspected leader of a drug gang and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in southern Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Marines block a street where the suspected leader of a drug gang and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in southern Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
A woman peers out from a home as Marines block off the area where the suspected leader of a drug gang and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in southern Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Marines block off the area where the suspected leader of a drug gang and seven others were killed, according to the Navy, in southern Mexico City, Thursday, July 20, 2017. In a statement Thursday, the Navy said a gang of street-level drug dealers operated in the Tlahuac and Iztapalapa districts on the city's south and east sides, where it dealt drugs, as well as carried out kidnappings, extortion and murder. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
The damage of the right side of the USS Fitzgerald is seen off Shimoda, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, after the Navy destroyer collided with a merchant ship, Saturday, June 17, 2017. Seven Navy sailors are missing and one was injured after a U.S. destroyer collided early Saturday morning with the Philippine-registered container ship off the coast of Japan, the country's coast guard reported. (Iori Sagisawa/Kyodo News via AP)
President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks to Navy and shipyard personnel aboard nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., Thursday, March 2, 2017. The ship which is still under construction is due to be delivered to the Navy later this year. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks to Navy and shipyard personnel aboard nuclear aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Va., Thursday, March 2, 2017. The ship which is still under construction is due to be delivered to the Navy later this year. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Check out what it's like to spend the day on the Navy's seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, the USS John C. Stennis.
A yellow sheet covers a U.S. Army helicopter U-60 that crashed on the Navy cargo vessel USNS Red Cloud in the waters around 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Japan's southern island of Okinawa Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. The helicopter crashed during a training mission while landing on the Navy ship, injuring several people and damaging the aircraft, officials said. (Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, CREDIT MANDATORY
A crashed U.S. Army helicopter U-60 lies partially covered with a yellow sheet on the deck, bottom left, of the Navy cargo vessel USNS Red Cloud in the waters around 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Japan's southern island of Okinawa Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. The helicopter crashed during a training mission while landing on the Navy ship, injuring several people and damaging the aircraft, officials said. (Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News via AP) JAPAN OUT, CREDIT MANDATORY
A yellow sheet covers a U.S. Army helicopter U-60 that crashed on the Navy cargo vessel USNS Red Cloud in the waters around 20 miles (30 kilometers) east of Japan's southern island of Okinawa Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. The helicopter crashed during a training mission while landing on the Navy ship, injuring several people and damaging the aircraft, officials said. (Ryosuke Uematsu/Kyodo News via AP)
The Washington Navy Yard was on lockdown Thursday morning after reports of gunshots. Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said that within 20 minutes of receiving a 7:29 a.m. report of gunshots at the Navy Yard, she was monitoring the situation in a unified command center with leaders and representatives of the Navy and federal law enforcement agencies. (Associated Press)
Members of the Navy bow heads during the reopening ceremony at the Washington Navy Yard. Twelve were killed and four wounded during the shooting. (Associated Press)
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