Sumner Atherton

Captain Sumner Edward Atherton Jr (May 23, 1916 – September 6, 1975) was a US Naval Aviator and Distinguished Flying Cross recipient for his actions during World War II. He was a pioneer of commercial aviation in New England and established Connecticut Valley Airways. As a veteran aviator he was a US Naval Reserve pilot.

Early life
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Sumner Edward Atherton Sr. (1878-1952) and Maude E. Wheelock. His family operated a dairy farm in Colebrook, New Hampshire. He was educated in the rural school system, and attended grade school in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and graduated from West Lebanon High School in 1934, and the University of New Hampshire with honors in 1938.

He enlisted in the United States Navy on June 19, 1938. He went on to graduate from the Naval School of Aeronautics at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

World War II
Prior to serving in the Pacific, he was based at Naval Station Norfolk Chambers Field.

As part of patrol squadron 8 (VP-8), he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions for extraordinary achievement in the line of his profession while participating in aerial flight on April 3, 1942, as Commander of a Patrol Plane.

His flight log has been preserved by the Naval Aviation Foundation at the National Naval Aviation Museum. Flight Log ID 1881.

Aerial flight on April 3rd, 1942
While operating from Naval Air Station, Palmyra, upon learning of a contact report of a wrecked U.S. Army plane at sea, he immediately volunteered to attempt the rescue of a lone survivor in a life raft.

Authority being granted, he proceeded 180 miles to southwest of Palmyra, under conditions of extreme low visibility and located the raft; landing under hazardous conditions of wing and sea was made and the survivor picked up. The take-off was then safely accomplished and he returned to base. In doing he displayed excellent judgment, skill and courage of a high order, and thereby saved the life of an officer of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

The award ceremony took place in San Francisco, in July 1942, with Vice Admiral John Greenslade representing the U.S. President.

His efforts were recorded in the U.S. press on a national level. On July 25, 1942 The New York Times reported:

"Navy Flyer honored for daring sea rescue landed on Pacific in storm

Distinguished Flying Cross to Lieutenant Sumner E. Atherton, Jr. for extraordinary achievement in the line of his profession while participating in aerial flight on April 3rd, 1942, as Commander of a Patrol Plane.

While operating from the Naval Air Station Palmyra, Atherton upon learning of a contact report of a wrecked U.S. Army plane at sea, immediately volunteered to attempt the rescue of a lone survivor in a life raft. Authority being granted, Atherton proceeded 180 miles to southwest of the Palmyra Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, under conditions of extreme low visibility and located the raft; landing under hazardous conditions of wing and sea was made and the survivor picked up. The take-off was then safely accomplished and he returned to base. In doing so he displayed excellent judgment, skill and courage of a high order, and thereby saved the life of an officer of the U.S. Army Air Corps."

Other interceptions
On September 27, 1942 as a LT, he was flying BuNo 04477, 40V (61-P-2) near South Pass, Kiska, when it was attacked by 3 fighters and damaged, returned fire, two possible kills. Whilst flying BuNo 04492 45V (61-P-5) October 14, 1942, he attempted a rescue of a P-38 pilot and landed in the waters by Little Kiska under fire of shore batteries. However the P-38 pilot turned out to be dead.

New Hampshire Outstanding War Heroes
In 1943, he was named as one of New Hampshire’s outstanding war heroes for his skill and daring displayed during attack and patrol missions. He was honored for his courage in carrying out a hazardous scouting mission over enemy territory, which was defended by anti-aircraft and seaplane fighters. He shot down one of three fighters which attacked him and probably destroyed another.

A log capturing these exchanges with the enemy over the Pacific during September 1942 have been preserved in historical records.

Naval recruitment hero
On a national level, he was featured as a real life hero, in Don Winslow of the Navy (comic strip) as Hero-Gram No. 4 in 1943. Don Winslow of the Navy had been created primarily as a Navy recruitment and propaganda tool. The comic strip received high marks from Coulton Waugh for “excellent suspense, and ingenious, spine-joggling situations. Credit should be given to Atherton for being selected by Navy Recruitment as being in the first top 4 heroes.

He was discharged from the United States Navy on Dec 7, 1945, with the rank of Captain in the Unites States Naval Reserves.

Career
Atherton had his sights set on the two paved runways the U.S. government had constructed in West Lebanon, New Hampshire as a hide away for planes in the event the U.S. was attacked. Once the runways were property of the town, in 1946 he set up Connecticut Valley Airways, a initially a joint venture with Gerald “Jerry” Winston, chief pilot and a business partner and treasurer for the company from New York. Atherton recruited two other pilots and was successful in bidding for a 20-year lease to operate the Lebanon Municipal Airport, New Hampshire. Records show that he was the sole company director.

He is recognised for having established a presence at the site, and is attributed, by the City of Lebanon as a pioneer in operating the first charter flights from the municipal airport, the provision of ticket sales service, the servicing of incoming flights, and management of all airport facilities.

He was officially appointed as Airport Manager by the Board of selectmen and oversaw the expansion of Lebanon Municipal Airport.

During his management of this U.S regional Airport (1950 - 1969), the airport's runway was extended to over a mile in length to accomodate the 75-passenger planes, having secured $720,000 in state and federal funding. He worked closely with Senator Norris Cotton, a longtime proponent of expansion of the airport, who sponsored legislation to create the Lebanon Regional Airport Authority, an interstate commission charged with running and maintaining the West Lebanon facility. Northeast Airlines operated a direct one-stop service to New York John F. Kennedy Airport with four-engine Douglas DC-6B propliners via Keene.

He expanded Connecticut Valley Airways successfully bidding for a contract for fixed base operations at other regional airports, such as  Broome County Airport, New York. In 1958 his company operated the "busiest airport in New Hampshire", selling 75 per cent of all the aviation fuel sold in New Hampshire and ran a government approved school, air taxi and air ambulance service.

At a regional level, he was instrumental in planning improvements to aviation in the New York, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont region, with regular access to state governors.

By the time he retired in 1969, Northeast was operating up to ten flights a day from his “home airport” with Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprop aircraft, with nonstop service to New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Boston (BOS), Montpelier/Barre (MPV), Manchester, NH (MHT) and Keene, NH (EEN), with daily direct one-stop service to Burlington (BTV).

Inquest into the loss of Northeast Airlines Flight 946
In April 1969, Atherton testified at the inquest into the loss of Northeast Airlines Flight 946, where a faulty beacon was identified as the cause of the loss of a Flight 946, which crashed on an instrument approach in October 25, 1968, with 32 fatalities and 10 survivors. Atherton was first to sight the wreckage, circling his aircraft giving coordinates of the site, which aided the despatch of a coastguard helicopter and overland rescue teams to recover the 10 injured survivors from the snow covered mountain. Atherton, who at the time was also a flight instructor, testified that he had been flying into the airport for 20 years and had found difficulty with the VOR system on the night of the crash when he was asked to fly over  Moose Mountain to locate the crash site.

His company ceased operating the airport, and was dissolved only months later in January 1970.

Personal
He married Martha Kennard, a business grandute, in Pensacola, Florida, on September 30, 1939, and had five children. Martha, who volunteered for service in WWII, was described in the Oakland Tribune in August 1942, as the wife of a naval flyer who won his distinguished flying cross for volunteering to rescue a fellow flier lost in the South Pacific.

Atherton was considered by some to be a renowned speaker. At numerous luncheons he described the thrill of soaring silently through the air in a limited glider. Learning to fly “sail planes” had become very popular. This quiet soaring possible only in a sail plane he described as “ ... the closest man has come to the easy flight of birds”.

In the footsteps of his father, Atherton was active within the State of New Hampshire Department of Education.

Setting up home relocating to Sarasota, Florida in 1969, he and his wife operated a travel service. Atherton was an active member of Lions Club International. A former President of the Lions Club in his home town in New Hampshire. He was Chairman of Lion's Club State Convention in 1970. In 1973 he was elected as the Vice President of the Siesta Key, Florida Lions Club.

Death
He died of cancer on September 6, 1975 in Sarasota, aged 59, and is buried at West Lebanon Cemetery in New Hampshire.

Ancestry
His family came from New Hampshire. He is a direct descendant of James Atherton, who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the 1630s.