 HANKS, EUGENE RALPH  Eugene Ralph Hanks, CAPT U.S. Navy Retired, WWII fighter pilot Ace, jet test pilot, Blue Angel, "Top-Gun" squadron commander, mountain land developer and resident of Mora, NM, died peacefully in Albuquerque on March 13, 2014, at the age of 95. Born in Corning, CA, Dec. 11, 1918, He attended Red Bluff H.S. in Red Bluff, CA, and California Polytechnic State College San Luis Obispo before joining the U.S. Navy in Oct. 1941. He completed flight training and received his wings and commission in Aug. 1942. CAPT Hanks served 28 years in the U.S. Navy through several wars earning the Navy Cross, two Distinguished flying Crosses, seven Air Medals, the Legion of Merit, and various other medals and citations. He served as Commanding Officer (CO) of three jet fighter squadrons, including being the first CO of the famous "Top-Gun" squadron. During WWII in the Pacific near Tarawa Island in Nov. 1944, he became the first Navy Hellcat pilot to become an "ace" in a day by shooting down five enemy planes in the first five minutes of his first aerial combat, a feat few, if any, fighter pilots have accomplished. After WWII, he was a test pilot at Patuxent River Naval Test Center in Maryland, testing the Navy's first jet planes when they simply said, "Get in and fly." In 1950, he was a member of the Blue Angels, the Navy's aerial demonstration team, flying the Panther jet. Hanks was also the CO of the Navy's first jet training squadron of select pilots; a member of the first operational jet squadron on the West Coast; a pilot testing the Navy's first jet fighters to use air-to-air missiles; the CO of the first squadron with jet fighters with missiles; the CO of the first military unit to have the F-4 Phantom II fighter jet, the fastest operational fighter in service at the time; the first operations officer on the new USS Constellation, the largest conventional aircraft carrier at that time; the director of Aerospace and directorate operations at the Naval Missile Center; and the test director and the naval representative to a joint military task force. While living in New Mexico, he acquired land around the Mora Valley and developed Christmas Tree Canyon Ranch and mountain cabin properties, where he lived for more than 40 years. In various who's who publications, he characterized himself as a "land developer, cattle rancher, [forester, and] retired naval officer." He was married for 58 years to Frances Elliot Herrick of Philadelphia until her death in 2002. He is survived by his three sons Herrick of Watsonville, CA, Russell of St. George, UT, and Stephen of Albuquerque, NM; and daughter Nina of Albuquerque, NM; as well as 11 grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. A reception for family and friends will be held at Christmas Tree Canyon, Mora, NM, on Sunday, March 23, 2014, 1-3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Presbyterian Hospice, Albuquerque, NM.
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