Florence veteran searches for lost medal

FLORENCE — For U.S. Air Force veteran Rocky Gannon of Florence, Veterans Day 2008 started out nearly perfect.

After five long years of planning, the Florence Veterans Park he helped bring to life was finally being dedicated and servicemen and -women across the Pee Dee were officially getting the thank you they deserved.

“Good Lord had a sunny day, a little chilly, but everything went like clockwork,” Gannon said.

His good fate, however, didn’t last long. Sometime during the course of the Veterans Park events, Gannon lost the Distinguished Flying Cross off of his jacket. He earned the medal during the Vietnam War while flying a twin-engine DC3.

“Along the way, I caught some ground fire, blew part of the right engine away, couldn’t stop the fire because fuel was roaring it,” he said. “So, I started looking for an air strip because we didn’t have parachutes on board and I found an opening in the jungle and took the airplane and set it down and we all walked away.”

Gannon keeps a larger version of his Distinguished Flying Cross in a closet at home, but said the one he lost Tuesday — which is about the size of a thumbnail — meant a lot.

Now, Gannon said he simply wants to find the medal he earned — not just to fill an empty spot on his jacket, but also to help make sure the memory doesn’t slip away.

“When you’re almost 84, everything’s memories. You know? That’s what you rely on,” he said.

Anyone who finds Gannon’s medal or has any information regarding its location is asked to call (843) 317-1313.