Navy Cross

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Ensign Giochino Varini, United States Navy (Reserve Force), for distinguished and heroic service as a Seaplane Pilot in which capacity he made many flights for patrolling the sea and bombing the enemy coasts, showing at all times courage and a high spirit of duty.

Action Date: World War I

Service: Navy

Rank: Ensign

Company: Pilot

Regiment: Seaplane Detachment

Division: Naval Aviation Forces

Submitted by Doug Bewall RMCM USN Ret

PIONEER  NAVAL  AVIATOR  #62

Giochino Varini was born on June 6, 1883 in Venice, Italy.  He enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a Seaman on November 10, 1904 at San Francisco, California.  In 1916, Varini was a member of the first group of Navy enlisted men to be placed under instruction in flying at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.  He was appointed Boatswain(T) on September 28, 1917 and graduated from instruction and was appointed a heavier than air naval aviator on October 2, 1917.  During World War One, he flew aerial patrols as a seaplane pilot in the war zone and was awarded the Navy Cross for his activities.  While stationed in Italy he was appointed Ensign(T) on October 4, 1918.  Upon returning to Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads, he qualified as a lighter than air pilot on December 19, 1921.

Unfortunately, on the morning of December 10, 1924, LTJG Varini was the pilot of a five-man H-16 Navy seaplane, engaged in machine gun practice over the ocean near San Diego, California.  The plane went into a spin from an estimated height of 1,200 feet and crashed into the ocean, killing all the men aboard.  Varini’s body was recovered and he is buried at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola, Florida.

                                                          CURTIS  H-17  SEAPLANE

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