Gordon served in the Navy from 1942-1946. During WW II he was assigned to Navy Air Group 19, including from June to December 1944 aboard the USS Lexington that led the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific where Group 19 consisted of 36 fighters, 36 bombers and 18 torpedo planes, and Gordon was a yeoman to the group commander. From the Lexington, the group fought in many of the Pacific’s major naval battles, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea where over 300 enemy aircraft were destroyed and a carrier, a tanker and a destroyer were sunk, as American aviators nearly knocked Japanese naval aviation out of the war. Lexington’s aircraft also flew sorties over Guam, the Palau, Bonin, and Caroline Islands, and Mindanao and the Manila area in the Philippines followed by Okinawa and Formosa, and finally at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During Leyte, the climatic American naval victory over Japan, the Lexington was under constant attack, yet her aircraft helped assisted sink a Japanese battleship, 3 aircraft carriers and a cruiser. As a result of a kamikaze attack, Gordon suffered burns to his hands attempting to put out a fire burning a seaman and his clothing. Gordon’s military honors include the World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon, American Theater Ribbon, Philippine Liberation Ribbon and a Purple Heart. Gordon is 96 and resides in Lake Forest.