Edmond I. (Eddie) Edwards, Middletown, Civil Air Patrol (CAP) pilot based at Rehoboth Beach in 1942, flew submarine-hunting patrols in light aircraft offshore Delaware and Maryland. (Safeguarding oil tankers headed for Delaware Bay was an essential priority)
Eddie, as friends always addressed him, was the first to spot a Nazi sub and to radio its position to U.S. naval forces (March 10). The vessel crash-dived and headed farther out to sea where, deeper and slower, the "wolfpacks" were less of a menace to U.S. shipping.
Edwards and fellow airman, the late Hugh R. Sharp, Jr., were the first civilians to receive the Air Medal for heroism. The honor, awarded for their daring rescue of a fellow airman downed in stormy seas off Maryland, was conferred upon each by President Roosevelt in a White House ceremony.
Last May, in a DAHF symposium on courageous aerial actions, Eddie was asked how many missions he flew with the CAP
"Missions! Heck, we flew every day!" That adds up to some 300 patrols. Records reveal that CAP pilots flew even on days when weather grounded military aviation.
After 10 months of daily low-level patrols, Eddie joined the Navy where he served as a flight instructor and later piloted Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers on patrols out of Hawaii. He served three years, attaining the rank of senior-grade lieutenant. He served 27 years in the Reserve, during which he pursued an active role in Delaware civil aviation. For a number of years, he ran the FBO and instructed at Weimer Airport at Newark, now site of a DuPont facility.
Eddie was born in 1913 in North Carolina and came to Newark in 1928. He and his wife Blanche have a son and two daughters: Edmond, Jr. who lives in Missouri; Mrs. Linda Jones of Shillington, PA.; and Mrs. Patricia Dawson of Bear, DE.
