(Reprinted from an article by Jug Bernhardt in the July 19, 1974, issue of Crosswind, the base newspaper of NAS Whidbey Island.)

VAH-4's TROPHY

"A cute and shapely lass, a whole carrier full of lonely and lovesick sailors, and a vast ocean. With these ingredients on a nippy winter evening long ago in Alameda, California, a chain of events began that would endure for 17 years.

The shapely lass was the Golden Goddess, a statuette standing 43 inches tall and measuring a petite, but eye-catching 26, 19, 24. She wore nothing but a gleam in her eye and a coat of golden paint. The carrier full of lonely and lovesick sailors was the USS Hancock and the men of Det Delta of VAH-4. And the ocean was the Pacific.

This set the stage for Clifford Hornung, then attached to Det Delta, to attempt the perfect statue snatching of the century. The Golden Goddess resided in Tim's, a nightclub in Alameda. "Why should all those men on that big carrier be without a mascot?" Hornung thought.

The two men pictured with the Golden Goddess are AQ2 Ronald Samuelson, a 3rd crewman, and LCDR Ralph Lang, pilot. The squadron was VAH-8 aboard the USS Midway in 1958.

Then the fun began. Chief Hornung made off with the statue and as the year turned into 1958,the Golden Goddess deployed aboard Hancock to the Western Pacific. The Hancock and VAH-4 Det Delta arrived on station and immediately a cry of envy rang from every ready room in WestPac because Det Delta had Gigi (her now, abbreviated name).

Detachment Charlie of VAH-4 was stationed aboard the USS Shangri-La and they readied themselves for a night penetration into the abode of Gigi. When the two carriers were in a Japanese port at the same time, the dastardly abduction was carried out.

Det Charlie had her, but not for long. A midnight boarding party was organized and the pirates of Det Delta stormed the Shangri-La.

When the attack was over, the Golden Goddess was back home with her original admirers. But as the laurels of victory are always gained, Det Delta lost one of its less prized members; an Ensign was left behind.

Det Charlie offered the Ensign in exchange for the cherished Gigi, but the barter was promptly rejected. Sea stories have it that the Ensign was later returned to Det Delta with a rose between his teeth and wearing nothing but a coat of fresh gold paint.

In the next sequence of events in the life of the Golden Goddess, she won her wings by flying with the Navy.

While Det Delta was temporarily shore based at NAS Atsugi, another squadron, VAH-2, got wind of the coveted lass. By removing hinges and doors to the Det Delta maintenance spaces where Gigi was stored, the heavies from VAH-2 stole the golden girl from her owners. She then boarded an A-3B and made her way to NAS Cubi Point. Heavy Two was attached to the USS Midway, and in February of 1959, they proceeded to Naha, where they were debarked.

VAH-8, also attached to the USS Midway, learned that Gigi had been taken to Okinawa. An attack was readied: they planned to send an A-3 and crew to NAS Naha and abscond with Gigi.

The plans were carried out and, as the Heavy Eight Whale arrived at Naha near sunset, intelligence reports were received that Gigi was in the bomb bay of one of the aircraft assigned to VAH-2.

The inky darkness of early morning still remained when the VAH-8 crew removed the sexy statue from her vulnerable hiding place and escorted her to their own aircraft. Before sunrise they were winging their way to the USS Midway.

The Midway was then steaming back to the 'states' and NAS Whidbey Island where the Golden Goddess was to occupy a position of honor in the duty office of Heavy Eight.

October of 1959 brought three burly enlisted men from VAH-6 to the VAH-8 duty office and the subsequent forcible snatching of the goddess. Heavy Six then deployed in February of 1959 with the goddess aboard the USS Ranger on that ship's first WestPac cruise.

Her fame and glory reached every ready room and bar from Singapore to Sasebo. Her history became a highly coveted item and all squadrons who had possession of her had a tough time retaining her.

During an inport period at NAS Cubi Point, the men of VAH-6 decided that the sex-starved sailors of WestPac needed a little entertainment. One evening they took Gigi to the Cubi Point Officers Club. She was promptly stolen by a group of officers from a destroyer that was in port at Subic Bay. Reacting instinctively, the Heavy Six contingent went to the destroyer and stole the ship's bell.

A trade was effected and each party returned with its original possession. The implication of the destroyer incident was obvious to the men of Heavy Six: extra precautions would have to be taken if they were to retain the Golden Goddess. The goddess was subsequently bolted to the floor of the Heavy Six ready room aboard the Midway and the heads of the bolts were removed. It was thought that this would surely thwart all future theft attempts. This was an incorrect assumption.

Late one evening a fighter squadron stole into the ready room, tied the Assistant Duty Officer and used a blowtorch to remove Gigi. VAH-6 remodeled the goddess after recovery (her legs had been slightly damaged by the fighter squadron) only to have her stolen by VAH-8 who brought her back to the 'states' in early 1965.

In the confusion of VAH-8's homecoming, several members of VAH-4 saw the goddess placed in a locker in the VAH-8 duty office. A VAH-4 officer posing as a VAH-8 duty officer, obtained the key to the locker and had a duplicate made. He returned the keys to the duty officer within the hour assuming he had gone undetected. That night a raid was attempted. Access was obtained by means of a roof top entrance. When the locker was opened, all that was there was a note which said 'Sorry about that'.

M. Thomas Maxwell reports the 'straight skinny' on that story. "When I reported to VAH-4 in 64-65 as a very new LTJG and before I became known on the base (later CO of VAQ-135), I was sent on a mission to steal Gigi. Heavy Eight was returning from WesPac and it was rumored that they had our lovely lady. It was being kept in their Air Intelligence spaces in one of the large hangers. Although I cannot imagine doing this today, at midnight we climbed the ladder to the roof of the very high hanger, and with wire cutters entered the AI spaces. With a bolt cutter we opened the locker that was supposed to house GG only to find a sign which read, "Sorry about that."

In April of 1965, an aircrewman from VAH-4 Det Golf, who at the time, had a broken arm, 'shanghaied' the statue by using a pair of lock cutters.

In May of 1965, Det Golf deployed aboard the USS Oriskany. Gigi survived the tragic fire aboard that ship and returned to Whidbey in December of 1965.

In November of 1966, Det Golf again deployed to Southeast Asia, with enroute stops at Hawaii, Wake, Guam, and the Philippines. The detachment left Whidbey with Gigi. Things went smoothly and Gigi completed her second combat cruise aboard the USS Oriskany and returned to Whidbey Island in January 1968. In the ensuing months, various A-3 squadrons made several kidnap attempts, but all were in vain. It was not until March of 1971 that VAQ-130 Det 3, then deployed on the USS Oriskany, was able to take possession of the prize beauty.

Gigi was once stolen by some black shoes from the USS Fox while in Subic Bay and taken to Australia. She was later returned to the Heavies in Long Beach.

An incident involving Gigi occurred in Yokuska, Japan. An Ensign attempting to steal the Golden Goddess had to jump from the flight deck of a carrier into Yokuska Harbor to keep from being captured.

In October of 1971, the Oriskany was in Cubi Point preparing to return to the 'states'. In the excitement of returning home, Gigi was ignored for a few moments, just enough for an aircrew of VAQ-208 to snatch her. The VAQ-208 reserves were based at Cubi Point and were flying mail and aircraft parts to the USS Enterprise, which was stationed in the Indian Ocean. VAQ-208 returned to NAS Alameda in February 1972, and the Golden Goddess was placed on a glass enshrouded pedestal in the Commanding Officer's stairwell in the VAQ-208 hangar.

While Gigi was stationed at Whidbey Island, a new Ensign reporting to Heavy Four had his orders changed by forgery for the sole purpose of finding out where Gigi was. Time soon approached for his training to start and the Ensign had not located Gigi yet. The Skipper, Smilie Monday, got cold feet and had the young Ensign return. That was fine until Gigi's squadron found out about the ploy and reported the Ensign AWOL to BUPERS. It is told that the action officer at BUPERS was an old Whale driver and saved the day for Smilie.

Reportedly, Gigi was stolen by a fighter squadron (believed to be F-8 Crusaders) and returned after the Heavy squadron stole the Gunslinger's drinking flag. The F8s flew cover over NAS Alameda while the young lady was exchanged for the flag. When the Heavies unveiled her she was six months pregnant.

In 1968 Gigi went back to Alameda to visit Tim's Bar and Restaurant (which no longer exists), from which she was stolen for a gala 10-year reunion lunch. The bartender who was on duty the night she was stolen in the fifties was present and remembered it like it was yesterday.

While in Alameda in 1975, VAQ-135 acquired her from a VAQ-130 detachment after a young Ensign made the mistake of taking off the handcuffs which he was required to wear when with her in public.

Prior to VAQ-135 moving to Whidbey Island and transitioning to EA-6Bs, Gigi was stolen by one of the A3 reserve squadrons of Alameda, an obvious insult to the active duty pukes. They had her welded in place by Public Works about 50 feet above the hanger entry next to the duty office. Much planning and a couple of months later, one of the studley LCDRs and his henchmen showed up during the week, while not many reserves were around, dressed in stolen Public Works coveralls. They informed the LT TAR duty officer that they were there to spray the hanger and that it would require them to evacuate the hanger for five hours. The diligent Duty Officer secured his maintenance crew and had all hands leave the hanger. It took LCDR John Anderson and his crew about 3 hours and a cutting torch to remove the lovely lass. When the poor duty officer returned he was so upset that he wanted to go AWOL. The Skipper had some choice words and the young officer may have become an Ensign.

The Golden Goddess was present at the VAQ-135 Stand Up ceremony when they transitioned to EA-6Bs and was kept until CDR M. Thomas Maxwell handed over the command to CDR Dick Gunderman in 1976.

The Prowler flyers did not take the same interest in her as the Heavies and she disappeared never to be seen again. Attempts to relocate or discover the whereabouts of Gigi are underway but results have been less than satisfying.