From the Prairie to the Pacific Midway docent’s memoir is a wild ride through naval aviation
Landing a high-performance jet on an aircraft carrier is considered one of the world’s most difficult undertakings. Successfully completing your initial carrier landings as a student naval aviator is understandably seen as a monumental achievement. It’s an accomplishment worth celebrating. It was August 1968 when Navy flight student Gil Rud successfully “hit the boat” for the first time. Overly excited by this feat, he wasn’t surprised when his celebratory revelry got the best of him. A spirited morning beer fest that got him thrown out of a local Pensacola dive bar led to an impromptu redclay mudpuddle wrestling match with a buddy, and culminated in a less-than-ceremonial trashing of the base’s swimming pool with his mud-stained clothes. “Making mature decisions was certainly not one of my strengths,” reflected Rud, a retired Navy captain and USS Midway Museum volunteer docent since 2014. “And it would not be for quite some time.” This story and many others are wonderfully captured in Rud’s recently published memoir, “From the Prairie to the Pacific, A Blue Angels Journey.” From growing up
on a rural North Dakota farm to becoming a Navy pilot, leading the famed Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, and commanding an aircraft carrier, Rud engagingly recounts his life’s journey with humility and self-deprecating humor. “Gil Rud has lived life to the full, a life of rollicking fun and increased responsibility,” said Kevin Miller, author of the “Raven One” trilogy and a former Navy fighter pilot. “You’ll laugh at his antics in college, flight school and combat squadrons, and ponder lessons in human nature and the treatment of others he offers in each chapter. This fun book is honest, insightful and unforgettable.” The book is written in a manner that easily makes the reader feel as if they are having friendly conversation with Rud over a drink. The story of one remarkable adventure blends perfectly into the next. Although it wasn’t his intention, his decision to craft the book came out of trying to keep busy during the pandemic. “While I was stuck at home during COVID, I decided to put together some memories for my grandkids as I thought they might be interested in knowing how I grew up, so I started at the beginning,” said Rud, who has more than 1,600 volunteer hours on Midway. “I was having so much fun and the words kept flowing.” After writing the first chapter, Rud sent the draft to his good friend and former naval aviator Dan Beintema, who, at the time, was the president of the USS Midway Foundation. He asked Beintema if he thought this might make a book. “I had a blast working with Gil,” said Beintema, who spent eight years as the head of the museum’s foundation. “He’d shoot me a handful of pages as he wrote them, and while trying to stay focused on the editing detail, I could not help but feel in complete awe and in stitches at the same time. I could hear his voice, giggling and laughing as he was telling many of those hilariously wild stories that shaped and defined his amazing career.”
From the Praire to the Pacific - www.elmgrovepublishing.com/prairie-to-pacific-blue-angel-s-journey 8 WWW.SanDiegoVeteransMagazine.com / February 2024