GREATHOUSE-JOHN

LAST  COAST  GUARD  ENLISTED  PILOT

John P. Greathouse was born on November 23, 1918, in Wills Point, Texas.  A man of humble beginnings, he joined the Coast Guard in October 1941, and during his long 37-year career he accomplished many records.  He first served at the Fort Point Lifeboat Station in California before being selected for flight training.  He graduated in August 1943 as a Naval Aviation Pilot from the Naval Aviation Training Center in Pensacola, Florida.  Just two years later, while on temporary duty at the Coast Guard Air Station in Brooklyn, New York, Greathouse and a crewmate bailed out of their HOS-1G helicopter over Philadelphia after control of the helicopter was lost due to heavy winds.  This was the first ever bailout from a helicopter.  During his long career he was the pilot of a large variety of aircraft and when he retired in 1979, he had over 12,000 hours of flight time, the most on record in the Coast Guard at that time.  He was also the last enlisted pilot to retire from the Coast Guard.  Greathouse is honored at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, and alongside the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  The Coast Guard Aviation Training Center in Mobile, Alabama, dedicated its main boulevard after him.  Greathouse died on August 30, 2005, from complications from Alzheimer’s disease.  He was survived by his wife of 58-years, four children and a grandson.  He is buried at Biloxi National Cemetery in Biloxi, Mississippi, where his grave marker carries the inscription:  MCPO  -  US COAST GUARD  -  WORLD WAR II  -  KOREA  -  VIETNAM.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)