COSTA MESA -- Arthur Galvan was an up-through-the-ranks military success story suddenly cut short.
At 33, the son of a Mexican immigrant who had come to Costa Mesa in the 1950s, Galvan had risen from the lowest enlisted ranks to a captain in the Air Force.
As fire-control officer of a AC-130 Spectre gunship, Galvan was in charge of selecting Iraqi targets for the heavily armed turboprop to hammer in the opening days of Operation Desert Storm.
While attacking a FROG missile system in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait on Jan. 31, Galvan's gunship was hit. The plane crashed into the Persian Gulf, killing all 14 aboard.
(On March 6, the gunship was found off the coast of Kuwait and all aboard will be listed as Killed in Action when their remains are identified.")
Galvan would be the only person born and raised in Orange County to die in the Persian Gulf war. His brother, Ray, of Newport Beach, said this will be a special Memorial Day for him.
"We always had respect for the day and put out the flag," Ray Galvan said. "But it changes your perspective when you have someone who died. You kind of took it for granted what these people had done for the country. I'm glad they are honored."
Arthur Galvan grew up in a three-bedroom house on Capitol Street in Costa Mesa. He quarterbacked the Estancia High School football team. A year after graduating in 1975, he joined the Air Force.
Tapped as a rising star, Galvan was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1982. While with the Air Force, Galvan earned bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations at Troy State University in Alabama.
"He worked his tail off," Ray Galvan said. "Early in his career there were times when he was so poor he was on food stamps."
Operation Desert Storm was Galvan's second taste of combat. His Spectre gunship had played a key role in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in 1989 that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.
At the time of his death, Galvan was assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron and 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field near Pensacola, Fla.
Around dawn on Jan. 31, the AC-130, dubbed Spirit O3 for the mission, was told the Iraqi missile battery was a threat to US forces. The crew moved in on the target but apparently was hit by ground fire. The plane gave only a single terse "Mayday" distress call before dropping into the Persian Gulf. The plane was discovered March 4 about a half-mile offshore.
For bravery in action , Galvan and the other crew members posthumously were awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest decoration for bravery. He was remembered at memorial services in Orange County and at Florosa Baptist Church near Pensacola. He was buried May 11 at the Fort Barrancas military cemetery, also near Pensacola.
A street aboard Hurlburt Field, Fl. has been named after Captain Galvan.
(bio provided by chuck cummins)
At 33, the son of a Mexican immigrant who had come to Costa Mesa in the 1950s, Galvan had risen from the lowest enlisted ranks to a captain in the Air Force.
As fire-control officer of a AC-130 Spectre gunship, Galvan was in charge of selecting Iraqi targets for the heavily armed turboprop to hammer in the opening days of Operation Desert Storm.
While attacking a FROG missile system in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait on Jan. 31, Galvan's gunship was hit. The plane crashed into the Persian Gulf, killing all 14 aboard.
(On March 6, the gunship was found off the coast of Kuwait and all aboard will be listed as Killed in Action when their remains are identified.")
Galvan would be the only person born and raised in Orange County to die in the Persian Gulf war. His brother, Ray, of Newport Beach, said this will be a special Memorial Day for him.
"We always had respect for the day and put out the flag," Ray Galvan said. "But it changes your perspective when you have someone who died. You kind of took it for granted what these people had done for the country. I'm glad they are honored."
Arthur Galvan grew up in a three-bedroom house on Capitol Street in Costa Mesa. He quarterbacked the Estancia High School football team. A year after graduating in 1975, he joined the Air Force.
Tapped as a rising star, Galvan was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1982. While with the Air Force, Galvan earned bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations at Troy State University in Alabama.
"He worked his tail off," Ray Galvan said. "Early in his career there were times when he was so poor he was on food stamps."
Operation Desert Storm was Galvan's second taste of combat. His Spectre gunship had played a key role in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in 1989 that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.
At the time of his death, Galvan was assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron and 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field near Pensacola, Fla.
Around dawn on Jan. 31, the AC-130, dubbed Spirit O3 for the mission, was told the Iraqi missile battery was a threat to US forces. The crew moved in on the target but apparently was hit by ground fire. The plane gave only a single terse "Mayday" distress call before dropping into the Persian Gulf. The plane was discovered March 4 about a half-mile offshore.
For bravery in action , Galvan and the other crew members posthumously were awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest decoration for bravery. He was remembered at memorial services in Orange County and at Florosa Baptist Church near Pensacola. He was buried May 11 at the Fort Barrancas military cemetery, also near Pensacola.
A street aboard Hurlburt Field, Fl. has been named after Captain Galvan.
(bio provided by chuck cummins)
COSTA MESA -- Arthur Galvan was an up-through-the-ranks military success story suddenly cut short.
At 33, the son of a Mexican immigrant who had come to Costa Mesa in the 1950s, Galvan had risen from the lowest enlisted ranks to a captain in the Air Force.
As fire-control officer of a AC-130 Spectre gunship, Galvan was in charge of selecting Iraqi targets for the heavily armed turboprop to hammer in the opening days of Operation Desert Storm.
While attacking a FROG missile system in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait on Jan. 31, Galvan's gunship was hit. The plane crashed into the Persian Gulf, killing all 14 aboard.
(On March 6, the gunship was found off the coast of Kuwait and all aboard will be listed as Killed in Action when their remains are identified.")
Galvan would be the only person born and raised in Orange County to die in the Persian Gulf war. His brother, Ray, of Newport Beach, said this will be a special Memorial Day for him.
"We always had respect for the day and put out the flag," Ray Galvan said. "But it changes your perspective when you have someone who died. You kind of took it for granted what these people had done for the country. I'm glad they are honored."
Arthur Galvan grew up in a three-bedroom house on Capitol Street in Costa Mesa. He quarterbacked the Estancia High School football team. A year after graduating in 1975, he joined the Air Force.
Tapped as a rising star, Galvan was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1982. While with the Air Force, Galvan earned bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations at Troy State University in Alabama.
"He worked his tail off," Ray Galvan said. "Early in his career there were times when he was so poor he was on food stamps."
Operation Desert Storm was Galvan's second taste of combat. His Spectre gunship had played a key role in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in 1989 that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.
At the time of his death, Galvan was assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron and 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field near Pensacola, Fla.
Around dawn on Jan. 31, the AC-130, dubbed Spirit O3 for the mission, was told the Iraqi missile battery was a threat to US forces. The crew moved in on the target but apparently was hit by ground fire. The plane gave only a single terse "Mayday" distress call before dropping into the Persian Gulf. The plane was discovered March 4 about a half-mile offshore.
For bravery in action , Galvan and the other crew members posthumously were awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest decoration for bravery. He was remembered at memorial services in Orange County and at Florosa Baptist Church near Pensacola. He was buried May 11 at the Fort Barrancas military cemetery, also near Pensacola.
A street aboard Hurlburt Field, Fl. has been named after Captain Galvan.
(bio provided by chuck cummins)
At 33, the son of a Mexican immigrant who had come to Costa Mesa in the 1950s, Galvan had risen from the lowest enlisted ranks to a captain in the Air Force.
As fire-control officer of a AC-130 Spectre gunship, Galvan was in charge of selecting Iraqi targets for the heavily armed turboprop to hammer in the opening days of Operation Desert Storm.
While attacking a FROG missile system in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait on Jan. 31, Galvan's gunship was hit. The plane crashed into the Persian Gulf, killing all 14 aboard.
(On March 6, the gunship was found off the coast of Kuwait and all aboard will be listed as Killed in Action when their remains are identified.")
Galvan would be the only person born and raised in Orange County to die in the Persian Gulf war. His brother, Ray, of Newport Beach, said this will be a special Memorial Day for him.
"We always had respect for the day and put out the flag," Ray Galvan said. "But it changes your perspective when you have someone who died. You kind of took it for granted what these people had done for the country. I'm glad they are honored."
Arthur Galvan grew up in a three-bedroom house on Capitol Street in Costa Mesa. He quarterbacked the Estancia High School football team. A year after graduating in 1975, he joined the Air Force.
Tapped as a rising star, Galvan was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1982. While with the Air Force, Galvan earned bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations at Troy State University in Alabama.
"He worked his tail off," Ray Galvan said. "Early in his career there were times when he was so poor he was on food stamps."
Operation Desert Storm was Galvan's second taste of combat. His Spectre gunship had played a key role in Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in 1989 that ousted dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega.
At the time of his death, Galvan was assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron and 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field near Pensacola, Fla.
Around dawn on Jan. 31, the AC-130, dubbed Spirit O3 for the mission, was told the Iraqi missile battery was a threat to US forces. The crew moved in on the target but apparently was hit by ground fire. The plane gave only a single terse "Mayday" distress call before dropping into the Persian Gulf. The plane was discovered March 4 about a half-mile offshore.
For bravery in action , Galvan and the other crew members posthumously were awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest decoration for bravery. He was remembered at memorial services in Orange County and at Florosa Baptist Church near Pensacola. He was buried May 11 at the Fort Barrancas military cemetery, also near Pensacola.
A street aboard Hurlburt Field, Fl. has been named after Captain Galvan.
(bio provided by chuck cummins)
Inscription
CAPTAIN, US AIR FORCE
PERSIAN GULF
SILVER STAR
PURPLE HEART
Back of Stone:
GREATER LOVE HAS
NO MAN THAN THIS
THAN A MAN LAY
DOWN HIS LIFE
FOR HIS FRIENDS
JOHN 15:13
