James E. Wise Jr. , author of “Stars in Blue, Movie Actors in the Sea Services” (1997), found the right hand group photo in the Photo Section Collection of the Naval Historical Center (NHC) in Washington DC.
It was the only photo from USS Hollandia (CVE-97) in the collection, and it had no caption. Jim sent a copy of the photo to Newman anyway with that note. Newman immediately called him back to tell him he was in the photo and remembered it being taken.
After Newman graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1943, he joined the Navy's V-12 program at Yale University in the hopes of becoming a pilot. His hopes were dashed, however, when it was discovered that he was color blind.
Instead of completing the program, Newman was shipped to the Navy's boot camp at Newport, R.I. Graduating three days after Christmas, Newman was selected to train as an aviation radioman and reported to the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Jacksonville, Fla., and Naval Air Station Miami where he qualified to be a rear-seat radioman and gunner for torpedo bombers.
In 1944, Aviation Radioman third class Newman was sent to Barber's Point where he operated in torpedo bomber squadrons designed to train replacement pilots.
He was subsequently assigned to Pacific-based replacement torpedo squadrons VT-98, VT-99, and VT-100, responsible primarily for training replacement combat pilots and aircrewmen, with special emphasis on carrier landings
One of Newman's later posts was aboard the USS Bunker Hill which fought in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. In a stroke of fate, his pilot developed an ear infection and they were held back from flying in the Okinawa campaign. Because of this, he and his pilot avoided the destruction of their ship, and the deaths of the sailors aboard.
After the Japanese surrender, he spent the last few months of his active duty service with Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 7 in Seattle, as part of a land-based support unit, and was discharged from the Navy in 1946.
Newman’s Own launched in 1982, with Paul declaring that 100% of the profits would go to charity. Today, the mission continues, and more than $570 million has been donated to thousands of organizations, helping millions of people around the world.
_edit.jpg){kind=link}