from their guns, while a squadron of Portuguese airplanes escorted the NC-4 on its arriTal to Lisbon. A navy boat took Lieutenant Commander Read and his crew from NC-4 to USS Rochester to receive a hero’s welcome from United States Navy and Portuguese officials. In addition, a popular festival also took place to honor the achievement of the crew of NC-4.

As a signal of respect for the new flying navigators, Portugal, an old maritime nation, and full of examples of historic navigation episodes, granted to all three seaplanes crewmembers (and another United States Navy Rear Admiral), her most important decoration - the Military Order of the Tower and the Sword (Figure 9).2 The crew of the NC-4 then proceeded to take off for Plymouth, England and anived on May 31 st.

Commander: Commander (USN) John H. Towers (NC-3, Squadron

Commander) Lieutenant Commander (USN) Albert Cushing Read

(NC-4, Commander) Lieutenant Commander (USN) Patrick N. L. Bellinger

(NC- 1, Pilot)

Officer:

Commander (USN) Holden B. Richardson (NC-3,

Pilot)

Lieutenant Commander (USN) Marc Andrew Mitscher

(NC- 1, Pilot)

Knight: Lieutenant Commander (USN) Robert A. Lavender

(NC-3, Radio Operator) Lieutenant (USN) David H. McCulloch (NC-3, Co- pilot)

Boatswain (USN) Lloyd R. Moore (NC-1, Engineer)

Lieutenant (USCG) Elmer Fowler Stone (NC-4, Pilot)

Lieutenant (USN) Walter Hinton (NC-4, Co-pilot)

Lieutenant (USN) James L. Breese (NC-4, Reserve Pilot)

Ensign (USN) Herbert C. Rodd (NC-4, Radio Operator)

Chief Special Machinist (USN) Eugene S. Rhoades (NC-4, Engineer)

Lieutenant (USN) Louis T. Barin (NC-1, Co-pilot) Lieutenant (USN) Harry Sadenwater (NC-1, Radio

Operator) Machinist (USN) Rasmus Christiansen (NC- 1, Reserve

Pilot) Chief Machinist Mate (USN) Clarence Irvin Kesler

(NC- 1, Engineer)

Figure 9: The Curtiss NC-4 crew. Left to right: Breese

Hinton, Rodd, Stone and Read.

Just as a curiosity, three years later (1922) two Portuguese Navy officers, Gago Coutinho (as navigator) and Sacadura Cabral (as pilot), made the first South Atlantic flying crossing (Lisbon - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and were decorated with the Order of the Tower and the Sword also.

By Decree of May 28, 1919 (Government Gazette No. 127, II Series, 1919) under the proposal of the Ministry of Navy the following named Navy Officers’ of the United States of America were to be decorated with the Military Order of the Tower and the Sword with the stated degrees:

Grand-Officer: Rear Admiral (USN) Charles R Plunkett (Commander

Destroyer Force, US Atlantic Fleet)

By the Decree of January 14, 1922 (Army Gazette No. 1, II Series, 1922) three American units were decorated with the Knight degree of the Military Order of the Tower and the Sword under the terms of b) article 10th, Decree n° 6.205, November 8, 1919 due to actions in World War I somehow related with the Portuguese war effort in that conflict (Figure 10).

Figure 10: The streamer for the unit award of the Knight degree of the Military Order of the Tower and Sword.

107th Infantry Regiment

107th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 7th New York Infantry, was a New York State National Guard unit, which changed its name for service in World War I. The 107th shipped out to Europe in May 1918 and was placed in the East Poperinghe Line with the rest of the 27th Division, to serve as

Vol. 59, No. 6 23

a reserve unit. Nonetheless on July 25, 1918 the 27th division was slowly rotated into the front line in relief of the British 6th Division. On August 31, 1918, operations of the Ypres-La Lys Offensive began in an attempt to remove the Germans from the Dickebusch/Scherpenberg area. On September 3, 1918 the Germans withdrew from the area, marking the successful completion of the Ypres-La Lys Offensive. From September 24th to October 21. 1918, the 107th participated with the rest of the 27th Division in the successfu! Somme Offensive, which was an attempt to pierce the German’s Hindenburg defensive line.

120th Infantry Regiment

120th Infantry Regiment was a United States Army National Guard unit from Wilmington, North Carolina. Shipped to Europe as part of the 30th

Division, to serve as a reserve unit. The unit was rotated into the front lines and saw action similar to other units of the 27th Division.

USS Orion

USS Orion (AC-11) was laid down by the Maryland Steel Company at Sparrows Point, Maryland, October

6, 1911, launched March 23, 1912, and commissioned at Norfolk July 29, 1912. She was assigned to general collier duty with the Atlantic Fleet in September and USS Orion remained in the western Atlantic until placed in reserve at Norfolk October 9, 1914. Re-

commissioned December 28, 1914 she continued to serve the Atlantic Fleet until ordered to Cavite in January, 1917. When the United States entered World War I the Orion was still located at Colon but soon left for Norfolk in May, 1917 and then for the Azores in June. From June until July, 1917 the USS Orion operated in the waters of the Azores. During the latter month she also assisted in placing a defensive chain across the Portuguese harbor at Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

The authors would like to express their gratitude to our friend and fellow OMSA colleague, Russell Furtado, for revising this article.

Endnotes: 1. On the same occasion, Uriel’s two pilots - Thomas Henry Griffin

and Edward A. Hall - and under the same decree, were decorated with the Silver Medal for Distinction mad Reward awarded for Merit, Philanthropy and Generosity (usually known as the Queen Mary II Medal)

2. This historic episode, the first trans-Atlantic flight, and specifically the need of a public ceremony for A.C. Read and the crew of NC-4 motivated the Lisbon City Council to decree the adaptation of a black and white ribbon on the Lisbon City Medal, which until this time was a table medal. The medal was of gilt silver with the

Lisbon Coat of Arms on the obverse; and a plain reverse for an engraved commemorative legend.

Bibliography:

Altmann, Fred. "Der Orden vom Turin und Schwert- Ordem da Torre

e Espada. 1. Modell 1808-1832." Orden undMilitaria Magazin,

n° 70, February, 1996.

Altmann, Fred. "Die Geschichte d~s portugiesischen Ordens vom

Turin und Schwert." Orden und Ehrenzeichen. BDOS Jahrbuch,

2002.

Fonseca, Alvaro Augusto da and Chaves, Jogo de Macedoe. Ordens

Honorificas Portuguesas. Lisboa: Livraria Sfi da Costa- Editora,

1945.

Melo, Olimpio de. Ordens Militares Portuguesas e outras condeco-

raq6es. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional de Lisboa, 1923.

Oliviera, Humberto Nuno de. O Brasil na criagfio da Ordem Militar da

Torte e Espada, a mais alta condecoraggo Portuguesa", Revista do

Mestrado de Histdria (Universidade Severino Sombra, Vassouras,

Brasil), vol. 9, no 10,2007; (online: http://uss.br/web/arquivos/

Revista_Mestrado vol 9-20.pdf (Junho 2008).

Oliviera, Humberto Nuno de and Estrela, Paulo Jorge. Ordem Militar

da Torre e Espada. Duzentos anos da Histdria de Portugal. 1808-

2008. Lisboa: Liga dos Combatentes, 2008.

Oliviera, Humberto Nuno de and Estrela, Paulo Jorge. "L’Ordre

Militaire de la Tour et de l’l~p~e, de Valeur, Loyaut~ et M~rite il

y a 200 ans." Bulletin de la SocidtO Suisse de Phaldristique, no

94, July, 2008a.

Oliviera, Humberto Nuno de and Estrela, Paulo Jorge. "Wert, Treue,

Verdienst: 200 Jahre Militiirorden Vom Turm und Schwert."

Zeitschrift der Osterreichische Gesellschaft fiir Ordenskunde, OGO, n° 71, August, 2008b.

Serrano, Maria Alice Pereira de Lima. A Ordem Militar Portuguesa

da Torre e Espada. Lisboa: s.l., 1966.

Velloso, Jos~ Eulogio de Souza. Legislag6o sobre Condecoracdes.

Nova Goa: Imprensa Nacional, 1905.

Apart the Portuguese legislation the following references were used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Fontaine_Maury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NC-4 http ://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/S amuel_Morse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US S_Orion_(AC- 11) http ://uscgaviationhistory.aoptero.org/coldfusion/medals/citation_

stone_elmer_f_ts.pdf http ://www.aviation-history.com/navy/nc4.html http://www.usma.army.mil/Protocol/images/AR840-10.pdf

OMSA CONVENTION 2009

August 13-August 16, 2009. Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

and the Devoss Place Convention Center

187 Monroe NW Grand Rapids, Michigan

616- 776-6400

2 4 JOMSA

THE CEREMONY MARKING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PORTUGUESE ORDER

THE TOWER AND SWORD

OF

RUSSELL FURTAD0

On May 13, 2008, in a solemn ceremony presided over by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Professor Anibal Cavaco Silva, celebrated the 200-year existence of Portugal’s highest military and national award, the Order of the Tower and the Sword. The ceremony was held at the Liga dos Combatentes (the Portuguese Veteran’s League) headquarters in Lisbon. The date chosen was the same one, 200 years ago, when the Prince Regent John (later King John VI) created the Order of the Tower and Sword in Brazil, then part of the Portuguese Empire. The ceremony was a true living moment of Portuguese history and valor as most of the living recipients of the Order of the Tower and Sword were able to attend the ceremony. The presence of actual living heroes from the Overseas War who stood united before the gathering made for a true communion of loyalty, valor and merit, which evoked the complete name of the most distinguished of Portuguese Orders. Such a moving gathering of heroes is seldom witnessed.

Portuguese heroes in attendance. Mr. de Oliveira and Mr. Estrela were also responsible for authoring and producing a small booklet outlining the history of the Order of the Tower and Sword that was distributed to those in attendance.

Figure 2: OMSA members Humberto Nuno de Oliveira (left) and Pauio Jorge Estrela (righ0 give a presentation entitled "Order of the Tower and Sword: 200 Years of Portuguese

History."

Figure 1: General Chito Rodrigues, President of the Liga dos Combatentes, opens the ceremony.

The ceremony began with a brief official speech by General Chito Rodrigues, President of the Liga dos Combatentes (Figure 1), followed by a lecture and media presentation entitled "Order of the Tower and Sword: 200 Years of Portuguese History" by OMSA members Humberto Nuno de Oliveira and Paulo Jorge Estrela (Figure 2). The half-hour presentation highlighted the history of the Order of the Tower and Sword through images of the distinguished Portuguese heroes of the past two hundred years, to include the distinguished

Figure 3: The President of the Republic (leflfronO awards the

diploma of Honorary Membership of Liga dos Combatentes

to the fornter President of the Republic, General Ant6nio

Ramalho Eanes (Grand collar of the Order of the Tower

and Sword).

Vol. 59, No. 6 25