Uss America Cv 66 Gulf War Vet Merch

On 9 January 1991, the America Battle Group transited the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed into the Mediterranean. Less than a week later, on 15–16 January, she passed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea on the U.N.-imposed deadline for Iraq's unconditional withdrawal from Kuwait. The America joined the Saratoga and John F. Kennedy Battle Groups to form Battle Force Red Sea. At 02:00 hours (Saudi time) on 17 January, Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm. America's embarked airwing, CVW-1, initially provided Combat Air Patrol coverage over the battle force. On the second day of the war, America launched its first air strikes, targeting and destroying an ammunition depot north of Baghdad. In the next day's darkness, CVW

3 Separate Deployments to Vietnam. Spent 112 days on "Yankee Station", America' aircraft pounded at roads and waterways, trucks and waterborne logistics craft (WBLCS), hammered at petroleum storage areas and truck parks and destroyed bridges and cave storage areas in the attempt to impede the flow of men and war materials to the south. On 10 July 1968, Lt. Roy Cash, Jr. (pilot) and Lt. j.g. Joseph E. Kain, Jr. (radar intercept officer), in an F-4J Phantom from VF-33 downed a MiG-21 'Fishbed', 17 mi (27 km) northwest of Vinh, North Vietnam, for the ship's first MiG "kill" in the Vietnam War. America and her embarked air wing, CVW-6, would later be awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for their work during that time.

On 9 January 1991, the America Battle Group transited the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed into the Mediterranean. Less than a week later, on 15–16 January, she passed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea on the U.N.-imposed deadline for Iraq's unconditional withdrawal from Kuwait. The America joined the Saratoga and John F. Kennedy Battle Groups to form Battle Force Red Sea. At 02:00 hours (Saudi time) on 17 January, Operation Desert Shield became Operation Desert Storm. America's embarked airwing, CVW-1, initially provided Combat Air Patrol coverage over the battle force. On the second day of the war, America launched its first air strikes, targeting and destroying an ammunition depot north of Baghdad. In the next day's darkness, CVW

USS America (CVA/CV-66) was one of three Kitty Hawk-class supercarriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but did make three Pacific deployments serving in the Vietnam War. She also served in the Cat Gulf War's operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.