HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Retired Rear Admiral Lawrence Chambers is the first African American to command a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier. The 90-year-old now lives with his wife in Hillsborough County.
- First African American to command U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
- Rear Admiral Lawrence Chambers made national headlines in 1975
- Chambers disobeyed orders to save a South Vietnamese Air Force polit and his family
“I saw being skipper of an aircraft carrier as one hell of a big deal,” Chambers said. “Absolutely.”
One of the carriers Chambers commanded was the U.S.S. Midway during the Vietnam War.
Chamber’s leadership made national headlines in 1975 when he disobeyed orders to save a South Vietnamese Air Force pilot and his family.
“I thought I was going to have the shortest command tour on record but I’m going to do what the hell I think is right,” Chambers said.
The pilot desperately pleaded to land his plane on the U.S.S. Midway. He dropped a note that’s still framed in Chamber’s office.
“What really gets you is, he says, I have one hour of fuel left,” Chambers said. “He didn’t have enough fuel to make it back to the beach.”
But there was no space on the U.S.S. Midway. Helicopters blocked the landing area and the helicopters had no fuel. Chambers wanted to push the choppers overboard. His superior said no.
“I’m not going to repeat his words exactly, basically he said there’s no room,” Chambers said.
Chambers gave the command anyway, recruiting about 3 thousand servicemen to help.
“I probably pushed $100 million dollars worth of helicopters over the side to save seven people,” Chambers said.
It worked. The pilot landed safely.
Decades later, Chambers said he would not hesitate to give the command over again.
“You have choices and my advice to anybody in command is do what you think is right because it’s the only thing you can live with,” Chambers said.