Don Stevens ’60, the first ever Jabara Award recipient, passes away
By Lt. Col. (Ret.) Steven A. Simon ’77
We are saddened to learn that Col. (Ret.) Don Stevens ’60 has passed away.
The former member of Cadet Squadron One died in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Jun. 29, 2021. A memorial service was held on July 6, 2021, at the Lady of the Lake Chapel in Dedham, Maine, followed by interment at the Mount Pleasant Catholic Cemetery in Bangor, Maine.
A native of Clayton, Illinois, Stevens had a full scholarship to MIT, which he attended until he was old enough to enter USAFA. He graduated second in the Air Force Academy’s second class, and went on to earn a master’s degree in mathematics and a PhD in industrial education.
Before furthering his education, however, he served with absolute distinction in the Vietnam War. The aviator earned the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver Star for his heroism.
Stevens was the first recipient of the Col. James Jabara Award for Airmanship. The Jabara Award was established in 1967 through the efforts of the Jabara family, the Academy, and the Association of Graduates. With 15 kills, Col. Jabara was the second-leading Air Force ace of the Korean War. He was also the first American jet ace. He was killed in a car accident in Florida in 1966.
Each year since its inception, the Jabara Award has gone to an Academy graduate, living or deceased, whose actions directly associated with an aerospace vehicle set him/her apart from contemporaries.
On Aug. 19, 1967, then-Capt. Stevens performed the mission for which he would receive the Jabara Award.
Flying a forward air control mission in an unarmed 0-2A aircraft, he directed the recovery of a wounded American soldier. During his two-and-a-half hours in the target area, he repeatedly made passes at an altitude of 50 feet, accurately marking the position of the soldier, despite constant enemy ground fire.
He sustained a hit in the right wing, but Stevens persevered in his rescue attempt, and finally succeeded in securing the safe extraction of the wounded soldier and the reaction team.
Mrs. Nina Jabara, James Jabara’s widow, presented Capt. Stevens with the first Col. James Jabara Award for Airmanship on Nov. 16, 1968. The presentation took place during the 1968 Homecoming Dinner at the Academy Officers’ Open Mess.
Capt. Stevens earned the Air Force Cross for the same mission, but his heroism was by no means limited to that one sortie.
He earned the Silver Star for gallantry in connection with military operations against an opposing armed force as a Forward Air Controller in an O-1 Bird Dog aircraft of the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, directing fighter aircraft strikes in Southeast Asia on May 25, 1967. On that date, Capt. Stevens flew in support of soldiers pinned down by intense automatic weapons fire. Disregarding his own safety, Capt. Stevens made repeated low passes over the gun positions, marking them for tactical airpower to destroy.
He received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism while participating in aerial flight as a Forward Air Controller near Quang Ngai, Republic of Vietnam, from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3, 1967. During this period, Capt. Stevens was flying his O-1E aircraft in support of Operation NATUARY against two Viet Cong battalions. Despite marginal weather conditions and intense hostile ground fire, Capt. Stevens’ outstanding professional ability in directing numerous sorties contributed greatly to the success of the operation. In one instance, his courage to press the attack against hostile ground fire was directly responsible for saving one friendly platoon from complete annihilation.
While stationed at Dow Air Force Base, Maine, Stevens met Joan Marie Ward. They were married on Oct. 24, 1964, coincidentally the same day that his Academy classmate, Capt. Valmore Bourque, became the first Academy graduate killed in combat. Mrs. Stevens passed away on May 31, 2016.
CITATION:
Captain Stevens distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in a military operation near Quang Ngai City, Republic of Vietnam, on 19 August 1967. At 1630 hours he was scrambled on a forward air control mission in an unarmed 0-2A aircraft to assist in recovering a wounded American soldier. There were two hard-core enemy battalions in the area. He spotted the soldier on the beach, saw an estimated 50 enemy soldiers moving toward the body from 100 meters away, and located five areas of concentrated heavy automatic and 50 caliber anti- aircraft weapons fire within 200 meters of the body, one, only 40 meters away. Captain Stevens made multiple passes into the heavy enemy fire, fired four marking rockets between the advancing enemy and the soldier; directed USAF fighter attacks, giving careful and precise instructions concerning the location of the body, the advancing enemy, and the areas of concentrated fire. He then directed the evacuation helicopters to the area. The weather rapidly deteriorated as thunderstorms with heavy rain and 500 foot ceilings approaching as sunset neared, causing premature darkness. Forced to fly under lowering ceilings, he received intense anti-aircraft fire. Captain Stevens, with total dis-regard for his own personal safety, voluntarily repeatedly made low passes over the beach at an altitude of 50 feet, accurately marking the position of the soldier. After ascertaining the soldier was still alive and despite receiving continuous sheets of high volume automatic weapons fire and sustaining a hit in the right wing, he persevered in his rescue attempt, and finally succeeded in securing the safe extraction of the wounded soldier and the reaction team. At the last useable light under IFR conditions, the weather became so bad that he could no longer fly in the area or see the target, Captain Stevens proceeded to Quang Ngai airfield, nine miles away, and landed at dark under minimum weather conditions on an unlighted field with no control facilities. During the entire two and one- half hours that he spent in the target area, he was exposed to constant deadly enemy ground fire. His courageous actions, calm conduct, sound judgment, and superior skill of flying while directing various supporting arms resulted in the successful rescue of the wounded soldier with no further casualties by any participating friendly units.