San Diego, CA
New Mount Soledad plaque honors Naval pilot who earned Medal of Honor in Vietnam
It was after midnight on June 19, 1968, when U.S. Navy Lt. Clyde Lassen and his helicopter crew flew into the jungle of North Vietnam to rescue two Navy aviators whose fighter jet had been shot down.
Taking on enemy fire in the predawn darkness and wary of the thick vegetation, Lassen attempted several difficult maneuvers to rescue the stranded pilots, at one point striking a tree and losing a door, but managing to keep his UH-2A Seasprite airborne. After several attempts, Lassen brought the aircraft to a low hover, his crew retrieved the men on the ground and Lassen piloted the group back to a waiting ship, landing with less than five minutes worth of fuel in the tank.
For his bravery, Lassen was awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest decoration, by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1969.
Lassen, who retired from the Navy as a commander and died in 1994, was honored Sunday afternoon by the Naval Helicopter Association Historical Society with a plaque at the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial. The ceremony concluded with a flyover by three helicopters from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21 and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 75 out of Naval Air Station North Island.
The Mount Soledad ceremony wrapped up a weekend of events honoring Lassen. On Saturday, Naval Base Coronado and Naval Air Station North Island held a dedication ceremony for a new helicopter memorial that now sits outside the main gate of the base. The monument, a full-size formerly operable helicopter, is known as the CDR Clyde E. Lassen, USN (Ret.) Medal of Honor SH-60F Oceanhawk Memorial Display.
Lassen is one of only 3,526 Medal of Honor recipients, and one of just three Navy pilots to receive the decoration during the Vietnam War. He is the 32nd Medal of Honor recipient with a plaque on Mount Soledad, where the privately owned memorial currently features more than 6,600 plaques made from the same black granite as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Neil O’Connell, the executive director of the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial, said there is no particular wall dedicated to admirals or generals or other high-ranking leaders.
“If you look on these walls, it’s a mosaic of our society,” O’Connell said. “Every era of conflict and history and sacrifice is represented at this beautiful memorial.”
Retired Navy Capt. Sandy Clark told the gathered crowd that Lassen was a humble, modest man who was a 26-year-old lieutenant when he piloted the rescue flight that early morning in Vietnam. He praised Lassen and his crew, who were awaken in the middle of the night and believed initially they were being sent on a training mission, only to end up instead conducting the harrowing rescue.
“Nothing ever good happens in Naval aviation without the help of a lot of people,” Clark said. “Clyde didn’t fly there by himself, he had a whole crew there… Clyde was brave, but it took the whole team to make it work properly.”
Clark praised Lassen and his crew for never quitting.
“There were ample opportunities to abandon the rescue,” Clark said. “They were low on fuel, they were being shot at, the aircraft was severely damaged, but he was focused enough to be able to pick those guys up and save them from certain death.”
The Navy named a guided missile destroyer after Lassen. The ship was commissioned in 2001 and was originally homeported in San Diego but is now stationed in Lassen’s home state of Florida. In addition to the helicopter memorial bearing Lassen’s name now situated outside Naval Base Coronado, there are buildings named after Lassen on Navy bases in Florida and Tennessee. There is also a veterans’ nursing home that bears his name in Florida.
NASCAR will honor the 250th birthday of the United States and the US Navy’s 250th anniversary with a race brand new to the racing calendar.
The Anduril 250 will take place on a road course built on Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California. The 3.4-mile track has 19 turns. The race is 255 miles total and drivers will do 75 laps.
Shane van Gisbergen, who is widely considered to be NASCAR’s best road course driver, will start in pole position. van Gisbergen has won seven road races in 14 total starts, and he is just two road wins away from tying Jeff Gordon’s record of nine.
nascar anduril 250: what to know
- When: June 21, 4 p.m. ET
- Where: Coronado Street Course (Naval Base Coronado, San Diego, California)
- Channel: Streaming exclusive
- Streaming: Prime Video (30 days free)
Here’s everything you need to know about today’s NASCAR Cup Series race on the Coronado Street Course.
NASCAR Cup race at San Diego start time:
Today’s (June 21) NASCAR race, the Anduril 250, begins at 4 p.m. ET.
What channel is today’s (June 21) NASCAR race on?
Today’s NASCAR race won’t be on traditional television; it will air exclusively on Prime Video.
How to watch the NASCAR Anduril 250 for free:
With Prime Video, you can also take advantage of the streamer’s Shop the Race storefront, exclusively on the Amazon mobile app, to shop gear, flags, and more for your favorite driver.
NASCAR San Diego starting lineup:
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Carson Hocevar
- Ryan Blaney
- Zane Smith
- Todd Gilliland
- Daniel Suárez
- Ryan Preece
- Connor Zilisch
- Michael McDowell
- Austin Hill
- Ty Gibbs
- Bubba Wallace
- Corey Heim
- Kyle Larson
- AJ Allmendinger
- Chris Buescher
- Tyler Reddick
- Austin Dillon
- Joey Logano
- Alex Bowman
- Kevin Magnussen
- Chase Briscoe
- Ross Chastain
- Riley Herbst
- Cole Custer
- Denny Hamlin
- William Byron
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Brad Keselowski
- Chase Elliott
- Austin Cindric
- Noah Gragson
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Ty Dillon
- Josh Berry
- Jimmie Johnson
- Christopher Bell
- Erik Jones
- Cody Ware
Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post
This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about (or watching) TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on the underrated perfume dupes at Bath & Body Works and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
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