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By LISA M. RAMA NAVSTA Public Affairs Office 3) EAST GREENWICH, R. I. -The East Greenwich Post Office will be dedicated Sun day to a native son who became a Navy pilot and earned the Navy Cross for valor during World War II. The building will be officially named in honor of U.S. Navy Cmdr. Richard L. Cevoli, who served in both World War II and the Korean War. Naval Health Clinic New England, Newport, will provide a color guard for the ceremony, and music will be provided by Navy Band Northeast. Guest speakers will include Steven Cevoli, the comman der’s eldest son, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and various R.I. civilian leaders based on the carrier USS Intrepid in the Pacific The ater. Rear Adm. Jacob Shuford, President of the Naval War Col lege, will be the honored guest. Cevoli was born in East Greenwich on Oct. 24, 1919. After graduating from La Salle Academy, he earned a degree in civil engineering from Rhode Island University (now Rhode Island College). The month after the bomb ing of Pearl Harbor, Cevoli entered the Navy. He was sent to flight training in Dallas, Texas, and Sanford and Pen sacola, Fla., before being assigned to Squadron VF-18. During a ser vice with the VF-18 Cevoli was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. Cevoli disregarded the ter rific anti-aircraft opposition and scored a near miss on a Kongo class battleship with a 500 pound bomb,” the award citation reads. “Then, pulling out, he made a second run to strafe a destroyer, silencing its antiaircraft weapons and thereby contributing to our successful bombing and torpe do attacks which followed. After WWII, he returned to Rhode Island and continued his Navy career at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point. How ever, the peace was short lived. North Korea invaded South Korea and another major con flict quickly began. From 1949 until 1951, Cmdr. Cevoli served as the executive officer in Squadron VF-32 on board the USS Leyte, seeing action in Korea. After the Korean conflict, Cevoli took classes at the Naval War College and in July 1954 was placed in command of Squadron VF-73. But during a training mission in Florida on Jan. 18, 1955, he was tragically killed when his aircraft crashed. The Rt. Patriot Guard motorcycle riders will partici pate in closing ceremonies.
Newspaper Details
Newport Navalog
Newport, Rhode Island, US
Fri, Oct 19, 2007
Page 13
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 13 Feb 2026
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