ART GALVAN

Richard Dunn

Today, as America lives on the fringe of an Iraqi invasion, it’s

appropriate to celebrate Art Galvan.

Once a second-string quarterback on the Estancia High football

team, U.S. Air Force Captain Arthur Michael Galvan died 12 years ago

Friday, when his plane was shot down in Kuwait during the 1991

Persian Gulf War.

While this space is generally reserved for the athletic or

sports-related highlights and exploits of those in the Daily Pilot

Sports Hall of Fame, Galvan takes to a much higher level the word

“hero.”

There were few American casualties during the Gulf conflict, but

Galvan was one of them. He never met an enemy until Desert Storm.

Even during his football and wrestling days at Estancia, Galvan would

hardly be heard from because he was so focused on doing his job.

“He was a perfectly quiet kid and never said a word,” said his

former wrestling coach, Jim Warren. “He was a pretty kid. He had

beautiful skin, pure white teeth and always smiled and never

complained. Art wasn’t a great athlete, but he worked and worked and

worked harder than anyone in football and anyone in the wrestling

room. He was always ready to go and never missed a day.”

Galvan (Class of 1975) provided the ultimate sacrifice, giving his

life as an American soldier to promote and protect the principles of

democracy. He was the only war casualty to have hailed from Orange

County and is believed to be the only Estancia graduate to lose his

life in a war involving the U.S.

There are plaques honoring Galvan on a wall in the Social Science

Department at Estancia and near a tree at adjacent Fairview Park,

where a memorial service was held for him on March 23, 1991. It

included a 21-gun salute and was attended by city officials and

dozens of former high school classmates.

Galvan, 33, was among 14 crewmen killed when their AC-130 Spectre

gunship crashed into the Persian Gulf on Jan. 31, 1991, during the battle of Khafji. All crew members aboard the plane had been listed

as missing in action and presumed dead for several weeks, until the

wreckage was discovered March 4 of that year in the gulf about a

half-mile off the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia border.

Prevented by vision problems from becoming a fighter pilot, Galvan

was a fire-control officer aboard the aircraft who was in charge of

deciding which targets to bomb. He was awarded the Silver Star, along

with his other 13 crewmates. The award is the third-highest

decoration in the U.S. military.

According to the U.S. Air Force, the plane was downed after the

crew, on its own initiative, unsuccessfully attempted to knock out an

enemy FROG missile battery. The plane -- an armed version of the

four-engine, turboprop C-130 transport -- was part of the 16th

Special Operations Squadron and 1st Special Operations Wing from

Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Dawn was breaking when the crew of the doomed plane, codenamed

Spirit 03, was told the missile battery had been moved into a

threatening position. The pilot, Maj. Paul J. Weaver, decided to move

on the battery. The plane reportedly gave only a terse “Mayday”

distress call. Controllers heard nothing more.

Galvan, who joined the Air Force in 1976, was commissioned a

second lieutenant in 1982 and was promoted to captain in 1989.

The Persian Gulf War was not the first time Galvan saw combat. He

participated in bombing runs during the U.S. invasion of Panama to

oust dictator Manuel Noriega, his brother, Ray, said at the Fairview

Park memorial service.

“If you were sad, he would cheer you,” his uncle, Art Delgado,

said during the memorial service. “If you were happy, he would

increase that happiness. If you wanted to sing, he would grab his

guitar and play with you.”

Born in Newport Beach on Nov. 8, 1957, Galvan was the pride of his

family even before making his mark in the U.S. Air Force as an

officer.

In addition to becoming the first in his family to get a college

degree, he also went on to earn a master’s degree in international

relations at his undergraduate alma mater, Troy State University in

Alabama, family members said in reports after his death.

Galvan was survived by a wife and son who were living in Navarre,

Fla., at the time of his death and apparently could not attend the

Fairview Park service. He was the oldest of five siblings. Galvan’s

father, Ramon Sr., was a Mexican immigrant who settled in Costa Mesa

and worked as a gardener. His mother was Doris O’Campo. Several

attempts to contact family members for this story were unsuccessful.

“Art was a real great person -- not a great athlete, but a great

person,” said Estancia’s Art Perry, for whom Galvan played freshman

football in 1971. “He was always a hard worker and never missed a

practice. He was the type of guy you like to have on the team ... he

was a hard-nosed guy, a typical guy you’d think would go into the

service.”

With red, white and blue flying colors today, Galvan is the latest

honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame.