Raleigh Ernest Rhodes, who often went by the nickname of Raleigh "Dusty" Rhodes, was an American World War II combat fighter pilot and the third leader of the Blue Angels flight team.
13 Facts About Raleigh Rhodes
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Raleigh Rhodes was shot down and captured by Japanese forces during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in October 1942 in the Solomon Islands.
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Raleigh Rhodes spent in the next three years in a Japanese prison camp.
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Raleigh Rhodes weighed 88 pounds when he was released from his captivity, during which he was starved and beaten.
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Raleigh Rhodes joined the Blue Angels precision flying team in 1947 after his recovery, and soon after became the flight leader.
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Raleigh Rhodes helped the Blue Angels perfect the diamond barrel roll, a complicated aerial maneuver in which four Blue Angels jets perform a loop in a tight diamond formation before becoming inverted at the top of the formation.
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Raleigh Rhodes returned to an active combat role with the US Navy.
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Raleigh Rhodes flew fighter plane missions from an aircraft carrier during the Korean War.
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Raleigh Rhodes was awarded two Purple Hearts and three Air Medals during his twenty years of active duty in the Navy.
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Raleigh Rhodes retired from the Navy in 1961 at the rank of commander.
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Raleigh Rhodes worked as a project planner for Lockheed Martin facility in Sunnyvale, California, for the next 30 years.
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Raleigh Rhodes died of lung cancer on November 26,2007, in San Jose, California, at the age of 89.
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Raleigh Rhodes was survived by his wife, Pauline, two daughters and a son.