RADM James G. Prout III, USN
On May 17, 1995, two F/A-18 Hornet supersonic combat jets left Miramar Naval Air Station for St. Louis, MO, to meet with McDonnell Douglas – combining official on-duty business with required training. Seated in the back seat of one of those jets was Rear Admiral (RADM) James G. Prout III, USN.
While over remote New Mexico the two planes flew at low altitude expecting to scale-up the mountains to level off at 12,000 feet when Prout’s F/A18, piloted by Commander (CDR) Joseph G. Kleefisch, USN, disappeared from radar without a trace.
Tragically, the pilot experienced vertigo. The altimeter remained set at low altitude and no alarm sounded. The crash happened in an instant.
Heartbreakingly for his wife and children, bad weather delayed search and rescue efforts. The wreckage was eventually located in the isolated mountains north of Taos with no survivors.
Rear Admiral Prout was the first Navy flag officer to lose his life in the line of duty since 1972. (A flag officer is highly ranked and entitled to fly a flag to mark the position of their command). He was in command of Cruiser Destroyer Group 3 with USS Carl Vinson at the time.
To those who knew him, Prout was extremely caring, putting the Navy and his sailors before himself. His ‘Jack’ Kennedy accent, wonderful sense of humor, loud laugh and a huge smile are remembered fondly by family and many friends.
A New Englander, born in 1944, the Admiral had a fine education, graduating high school in 1962 from prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy, NH, and then the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland—distinguished as First Flag Officer, Class of ‘66. He earned a Masters degree in International Relations from the Harvard University-Kennedy School of Government.
The Viet Nam Conflict was full fury when Prout began his military career in 1967. He served alongside Navy SEALs, engaged in “Operation Game-warden” on the Nha Tran River, when he was seriously wounded by RPG shrapnel, receiving the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with “V” for Valor.
On SEAL wrote about Prout’s injuries in ‘Never Fight Fair: Inside the Legendary SEALs, Their Own True Stories.’ “He was the boat officer, in charge of the boat support unit. He was hit in the throat. Just barely missed his trachea and the big arteries there. Of course the boat had a couple of dozen holes blowed into it. We limped to a South Vietnamese outpost.” SEALs also forecasted that Prout would “be an admiral one day.” He carried shrapnel with him for the rest of his life, along with the memories of his fallen comrades, of whom he often spoke.
Son Brendan wrote, although he “didn’t operate long with the SEALs Â… he never gave up the physical exercise regimen and personal discipline of being a teams guy. The night before he was killed he ran five miles and worked out as well…He loved the Navy, loved his country, loved his family, and loved to serve…He taught me the meaning of self-discipline, service, responsibility, honor, duty, and integrity – and he taught me how to be a dad to my own children.”
Once recovered, he attended Destroyer School in RI, then to USS’ Steinaker and La Moure County, before minesweeper service. He re-deployed to Command USS Fearless as a Lieutenant when the Navy assigned him as part of an experiment known as the “Kiddie Fleet,” where the best and brightest young people were assigned commands that would usually go to CDR’s.
Prout served as Executive Officer of USS Oldendorf; Commanding Officer of USS O’Brien; Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief, US Pacific Fleet; Commander of the Cruiser-Destroyer Groups 7; three tours of duty in the Pentagon, the last as the Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense. From 1989 to 1991, he was Commanding Officer of the 32nd Street Naval Station, San Diego, followed by Command of DESRON 7.
He advanced to Rear Admiral in 1993, serving as Deputy Chief of Staff in Hawaii. According to his son, Prout’s final command of Cruiser Destroyer Group 3 Carl Vinson Battle Group “was his dream job.”
In Coronado, RADM Prout showed the same devotion to his family and community that he did his country. He met his wife Kathy while she was attending college at Salve Regina University, in her hometown of Newport, RI. Jay, as she calls him, was a naval officer attending Surface Warfare School. Jay and Kathy have three children, two of which are Coronado High graduates, along with a growing number of grandchildren.
Kathy continues to live in Coronado, devoting her time to this community and the military community. She served on the Board of Directors of the Coronado Schools Foundation, serves as current chair of Surviving Spouses Advisory Committee, is representative for California Council and Coronado (Silver Strand) Chapter of MOAA, as well as Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. on the government relations committee. Kathy is a peer mentor for the military support initiative Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS).
She spends much of her time walking the Halls of Congress, working tirelessly to remedy injustices in survivor benefits for active duty and service caused military deaths that forces them to live near poverty level.
Even in his passing, the Admiral still serves Coronado and beyond as well. Rear Admiral Jay Prout Memorial Golf Tournament has continued for 20-years, awarding eligible San Diego youth $5000 for college. In 2004, that scholarship was awarded to his own son, James Prout IV, who was only a third grader at Coronado Village Elementary School when he lost his father.
In 1996, the Rear Admiral James G. Prout III USN Field House, a recreation facility, was dedicated at Naval Station San Diego. San Diego Surface Navy Association (SNA) commissioned one of the stained glass chapel windows at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) in his honor. The flag at Sacred Heart is dedicated to Prout.
A classmate from Jay’s youth at Philips Exeter Academy endowed a “full scholarship” at the prestigious school in Prout’s name. The criteria are first to be from Massachusetts, and then it is open to any military dependent, and then to any deserving applicant.
Admiral Prout was heavily decorated and received many awards during his 29-year career. Among those were several Meritorious Service citations and the Distinguished Service Citation. Admiral Prout had been selected for his second star but did not live to receive it. President Clinton presented it to Kathy at Jay’s funeral.
The final resting place of Admiral James G. Prout III is at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, overlooking his Coronado, and Kathy. It is certain that he watches ships sail in and out of the bay, wishing them, as his son hailed to him, “Hoo-yah, Slainte to you and all who serve on sea, air, and land.” Fair Winds and Following Seas!
Rear Admiral Prout’s banner is at Fourth and J. It was the first banner displayed on the Avenue of Heroes, Memorial Day 2015.
Next week’s Avenue of Heroes biography will be Ensign Lowthian, By Ron Picket, May 2015 (Banner at Fourth and I)
