War Coverage - Captain Richard O’Hanlon
by Tom Deignan
Just eight days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Navy Captain Richard O’Hanlon – the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt –- was headed in the direction of Afghanistan, along with the roughly 5,000 people who call the TR home when it is deployed.
As a native of the Bronx (whose parents came to the U.S. from Cork) the terror attacks on New York hit home for O’Hanlon.
“That made the last deployment special to me personally,” O’Hanlon told Irish America by phone back in April, from somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, where the TR was launching as many as 70 combat flight operations on Iraq every day.
O’Hanlon oversaw every one of those missions, which ultimately helped topple the regime of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein.
But, as O’Hanlon sees it, the threat of international terrorism remains high, which is one of the things inspiring the men and women on the TR to fight on.
Back in 2001, on the first night of air strikes against Afghanistan, O’Hanlon recalled the famous photo of three firefighters raising the American flag at Ground Zero.
“It was a symbol of why we were out there, of what this is all about. It was a great rallying point for the crew,” said O’Hanlon, a 25-year Navy veteran who went to the Academy right after he graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School.
A 1976 graduate of the Naval Academy, O’Hanlon was designated a Naval Aviator in September 1977. All in all he has flown over 3,800 flight hours in 30 different military aircraft and has logged over 800 carrier-arrested landings. He is the recipient of two Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Navy Commendation Medals as well as numerous unit commendations and awards.
“I always wanted to fly,” is the simple way O’Hanlon puts it. But the Navy saw more than a pilot in O’Hanlon and, on March 22, 2001 he became the eighth commanding officer of USS Theodore Roosevelt.
And though his leadership duties don’t allow him the air time he used to get, listening to him, you certainly believe it when he says he flies every chance he gets.
Growing up, Richard and his two brothers lived in several Bronx neighborhoods, from Cypress Avenue to Highbridge to Riverdale. Their Dad – one of 11 children, all of whom eventually emigrated to the U.S. – worked for the phone company and retired some 20 years ago. O’Hanlon’s Mom and Dad now live upstate.
“They’re proud parents,” said O’Hanlon. “They’re a little bit nervous, I guess as all parents would be. [But] they understand the greater mission.”
Military duties of late have made it tough for Capt. O’Hanlon to visit two of his favorite places: Ireland and New York.
“I return to New York as often as I can,” he said. “There’s no place that I’ve been to that has the hospitality that New York City does.”
O’Hanlon also said there is a big family trip slated in September, during which many members of the O’Hanlon extended family will meet and travel all over Ireland.
O’Hanlon has three daughters of his own now, and lives in Norfolk, Virginia. That is, of course, when he’s not living in what he calls the “city on the sea,” the TR. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier weighs nearly 100,000 tons and is roughly 1,000 feet in length. It can cruise in excess of 30 knots, and is now carrying roughly 75 aircraft.
Given the dangerous nature of his work, O’Hanlon says he is glad he can call upon his strong Bronx Irish upbringing.
“It’s a great source of strength,” he said, adding “[The Irish] have a great heritage of perseverance.” Then he adds with a laugh, “and of downright stubbornness. You draw on that strength in times of need, when the chips are down.”
|
