Staff photo / Raymond L. SmithWarren attorney Ned C. Gold, of Howland, served in the U.S. Air Force. He spent many years in his youth taking Navy recruiting trips with his father.
HOWLAND — Nearly 4 and living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Warren attorney Ned C. Gold was taken on numerous Navy recruiting trips with his father, Ned C. Gold Sr.
It was then the younger Gold’s interest in the military was sparked.
The elder Gold owned a printing plant in Santa Fe, but at the age of 34 decided to join the Navy shortly after the start of World War II and hoped to be sent to the Pacific Theater. Instead, he was assigned by the Navy as the chief of recruiting for New Mexico and drove from one town to another in New Mexico recruiting for the Navy and Marine Corps.
Gold said he idolized his dad.
Now 82, Gold, one of three boys raised by Ned C. Gold Sr. and their mother, Dora, described his stint in the U.S. Air Force and years working with the Boy Scouts as having shaped much of his adult life.
As a youngster, Ned Gold Jr. absorbed the recruiting speeches the elder Gold told potential recruits about the importance of providing service to their country and the benefits they would earn from their military service.
“I grew up around the military, going to different bases and talking to military people,” Gold said. “At a very early age, I had a great respect for those who served.”
During the early morning of one recruiting trip, while traveling near White Sands, New Mexico, the father and son saw a bright light in the distance.
“It scared him,” Gold recalled. “Because it scared him, it scared me.”
The elder Gold got out of the Navy station wagon, looking at a light that was brighter than anything he had seen before in his life.
Unbeknownst to either, they were witnessing history as the scientists of the Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico tested the first atomic bomb.
After the war, the elder Gold returned to the printing and publishing business in Santa Fe.
In the meantime, he was raising his three sons in the Boy Scouts. The family appreciated the discipline, camaraderie, sense of purpose and leadership the Boy Scouts provided.
It is that sense of patriotism and duty that pushed multiple generations of the family not only to be Scouts, but also to earn the Eagle Scout Award, the highest honor a person can achieve in Scouting.
Scouting is important to the family. Gold’s father, who began Scouting in 1918, achieved Eagle Scout level and so did his two brothers. The younger Golds all eventually earned Eagle Scout awards. Gold’s son also became an Eagle Scout.
Gold credits Scouting as teaching him, and others, necessary leadership opportunities.
“You learn to fail,” he said. “You also learn how to win.”
This year, Gold will celebrate being involved in Scouting for more than 74 years.
For his dedication to Scouting, Gold received the Silver Beaver Award in 2014. The award is a recognition granted only to Eagle Scouts who have devoted their lifetime to making a positive and lasting effect on their communities.
“Scouting taught me discipline, order, leadership and knowledge, all of which helped me in my military career,” he said. “It was Scouting that cultivated my interest in flying, which led me to joining the Air Force.”
As a student at St. Louis University, Gold was required to take two years as part of the Air Force ROTC program. He was later invited to enter the advanced Air Force ROTC program during his final two years as an undergraduate student.
It was as a freshman in the ROTC program that Gold had then-Air Force Capt. George “Bud” Day, who later became a general, as an instructor. Day later became the most decorated person in Air Force history.
Gold served in the Air Force from 1966 through 1971. He graduated from St. Louis University in 1963 after which he was commissioned into the Air Force. He then continued his education at the university, earning his Juris Doctorate, which allowed him to become a judge advocate, also known as a JAG officer.
He was sent to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.
Initially, it was Gold’s job to either prosecute or defend airmen accused of misconduct.
“Those who went through a hearing could face some type of disciplinary action within their unit, arrest, a bad conduct discharge or dishonorable discharge,” Gold said. “We really did not get very many, at all, that rose to that level.”
Gold later spent much of his time reviewing cases after the decisions were made by JAG panels that heard cases to make sure resolutions were within the limits of military laws.
As a claims officer, Gold settled civilian claims against the Air Force, including a number filed against it after a KC-135 refueling jet crashed in Wichita, Kansas, scorching and destroying neighborhoods, and killing civilians.
Afterward, he was transferred to the JAG office for the Alaskan Command and the Alaskan Air Command.
The Alaskan Command is in charge of all of the military branches of the U.S. military in the Alaskan theater.
While assigned there, Gold came up with the idea of having a radio program discussing military and civil law.
The then-local radio program, known as “Golden Laws,” was heard on the Armed Forces Radio Network, which at that time was the largest radio network in the world, he said.
“I wrote the scripts and an AFRN announcer did the program weekly. The program eventually went worldwide over AFRN,” he said.
“We got questions from all over the world. The program was a big hit.”
After leaving the Air Force, Gold moved to Trumbull County with then-wife, Carolyn, whose family was from this area, to practice law.
He and his wife, Deborah, have three children between them. Greg is a lawyer in Denver. Marianne is a magazine publisher in Durango, Colorado. Angela is the advertising and marketing director for the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator. The couple has six grandchildren.
Gold described his time in the military and Scouting as transformative.
“Each gave me an intense belief in community service,” he said. “I’ve been involved in so many areas of community service. I’ve donated legal service to many organizations.”
Gold, over the years, has received numerous local, regional and national awards for providing service.
Ned C. Gold
AGE: 82
RESIDENCE: Howland
SERVICE BRANCH: Air Force
OCCUPATION: Attorney
FAMILY: Wife, Deborah; three children, Greg, Marianne and Angela; and six grandchildren
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