Tribute to a Friend and a Great Aviator
In life you meet
people who will have an effect on you. I
met one of those people in 1998. His
name was Ron Dick. If you have had
a chance to look at this website in detail you have a pretty good idea of what
the Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial is all about.
In the fall of 1998 I invited a group of people to listen to an idea I
had about a memorial that would be dedicated to aviators who paid the Ultimate
Sacrifice during WWII. The symbol
that I felt was appropriate to represent this memorial was the B-17. I extended an invitation to a friend of mine, Dan Patterson,
from Dayton, Ohio. Dan is a
professional photographer and he has spent a great deal of his life
photographing WWII aircraft. Dan
accepted my invitation to this meeting and mentioned that a friend of his, Ron
Dick, was in town and would like to come along to the meeting.
From the moment I shook Ron Dick’s hand I knew this was a very special
person. His warm smile made you
feel so comfortable to be with him. I
was so glad Ron attended this meeting because his contribution and support
during the meeting enforced in me that the Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial was the
right thing to do.
I had a chance to
really get to know Ron when he went on an expedition with me to Greenland in
1999. I put together a team to go
to Greenland to find an E-model that was on the same flight as “My Gal Sal.”
The name of that ’17 was “Sooner.”
We never found her, but this led up to my purchase of “My Gal Sal”
soon after I returned from the expedition.
During the time we were together on the expedition I had a chance to
really get to know Ron and all I can say is, he was one of a kind!
His knowledge and experience was unprecedented.
The loss of Ron Dick will be missed by so many and for so many years to
come. With the help of Dan
Patterson the following demonstrates just some of the highlights of Ron’s
life.
Early on the morning
of 25 March 2008, Air-Vice Marshal Ron Dick, RAF (retired) took off on his last
mission. After more than a year of successfully fighting, he succumbed
to pancreatic cancer at his home in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
He is survived by his wife, Paul, son, Gary, and daughter, Peta, and
three grandchildren.
Ron Dick grew up in
London, where he watched as his home was destroyed during the Battle of Britain.
The great air battle overhead sparked a desire to become a fighter pilot
and, in 1946, Dick became a cadet in the Air Training Corps.
In 1949, he was selected to participate in an inaugural exchange visit of
cadets between the RAF and the United States Air Force (USAF) it was the
beginning of a lifelong association with the USAF.
AVM Dick began his unusually varied
38-year career in the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a cadet at the RAF College in
January 1950. Over the years he
became a flying instructor, an examiner, an exchange flight commander with the
USAF at Craig AFB, Alabama, a flight commander on a nuclear strike squadron, and
a squadron commander in Cyprus. He
flew over 5,000 hours in more than 60 types of aircraft and was recognized as an
exceptionally skillful pilot in both fighters and bombers.
Dick earned his
commission and wings at RAF Cranwell in July 1952, and in February 1953 was
posted to 64 Squadron at RAF Duxford, near Cambridge.
There he flew the Gloster Meteor 8 and became a member of the aerobatic
display team which represented the RAF for the 1953/54 seasons.
On leaving 64 Squadron, he converted first to the Provost and then to the
Vampire, and, in 1955/56, he won the Clarkson and Wright Jubilee individual
aerobatic trophies while flying these aircraft.
In 1959, Dick
crossed the Atlantic for exchange duty at Craig AFB, Alabama.
He became a flight commander and solo demonstration pilot in the Lockheed
T-33 trainer. Returning to RAF
Coningsby in 1962, he transitioned to the Avro Vulcan bomber and was the
demonstration pilot in 9 Squadron. After
two tours at the Ministry of Defense and two tours at staff colleges, Dick
returned to 9 Squadron as Officer Commanding.
From his base at RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus, he flew the Vulcan to many
countries including, New Zealand, Iran, and Ethiopia.
From 1978-80, he
commanded a low-level strike wing at RAF Honington, and led RAF detachments
taking part in the Red Flag and Maple Flag exercises in Nevada and Alberta.
His headquarters appointments included three years on the staff of
General Alexander Haig at SHAPE, Belgium.
Dick then returned to
the United States as Her Majesty’s Air Attaché
in 1980. Air Marshal Ron Dick
served most of the latter years of his Royal Air Force career at the British
Embassy in Washington, DC. From
1980-83, he was the Air Attaché, and in 1982, he played a crucial role in
gaining the understanding and cooperation of the United States during the
Falklands War.
During the 1980’s he flew a number of historic
aircraft, including the T-6 Texan, P-40 Warhawk and P-51 Mustang with the
Confederate Air Force in Texas. In
1983, as Air Attaché, Dick helped acquire a restored Boeing B-17G Flying
Fortress for the RAF Museum, and then flew it from California to England.
In 1984, AVM Dick returned to Washington as the Head of
the British Defense Staffs and Defense Attaché in the United States, a position
he held until retirement from the RAF in August 1988.
Upon his retirement from the RAF, he was appointed a Companion of the
Most Noble Order of the Bath by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
After his retirement, Air Marshal Dick lived in
Virginia and wrote and lectured generally on military and aviation history.
In 1989 he advised on the aerial sequences for the movie Memphis Belle.
He was named a Smithsonian International Fellow (at the National Air
and Space Museum in Washington, DC, until 1991) He was also a fellow of the
Royal Aeronautical Society, and a visiting lecturer at the USAF Air University
at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Ron Dick
had a long association with the International Association of Eagles, which
produced the annual Gathering of Eagles graduation seminars for the Air
University at Maxwell AFB.
Since 1990, he led annual Smithsonian tours to the UK
and Europe, and was frequently a favorite lecturer on board cruise ships
worldwide. In 2006, he was the
Smithsonian lecturer for the Starquest “Round the World by Private Jet”
journey. He recently traveled as
guest lecturer on the Cunard Line Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth
2 over the last 18 months.
Ron Dick also followed his career in the RAF with a new venture, the authoring and creation of books about the rich history of aviation. He partnered with Dan Patterson, an American photographer, to produce a dozen books and collaborated on three further books with Canadian author Donald Nijboer and Patterson. Dick and Patterson were chosen to create the United States Air Force’s 50th Anniversary book, American Eagles, published in 1997. They followed that well-received project with the Aviation Century series, a new landmark five-volume history of aviation, published by Boston Mills Press. Their most recent publications were a 60th Anniversary review of the USAF’s 60th Anniversary, Heritage to Horizons and 50 Aircraft that Changed the World, released in the fall of 2007.
In closing, I felt the following poem in so many ways represented Ron's life.
Lord,
hold them in thy mighty hand
Above the ocean and the land
Like
wings of Eagles mounting high
Along the pathways of the sky.
Immortal is the name they bear
And
high the honour that they share.
Until
a thousand years have rolled,
Their
deeds of valour shall be told.
In the dark of night and light of day
God
speed and bless them on their way.
And
homeward safely guide each one
With glory gained and duty done.
- Anonymous