Nathan Green Gordon Nathan Green Gordon ( September 4 , 1916 – September 8 , 2008 ) was an American lawyer , politician , and decorated naval aviator . A Democrat , he served as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas for ten terms , from 1947 to 1967 . As a United States Navy officer in World War II , he received the U . S . military ' s highest decoration — the Medal of Honor — for rescuing the crews of several downed airplanes . Biography . Gordon was born in Morrilton , the seat of Conway County in central Arkansas , to Edward Gordon and the former Ada Ruth Bearden . After attending Morrilton public schools through the 10th grade , he graduated from Columbia Military Academy , in Columbia , Tennessee , in 1933 , where he was salutatorian . Gordon then went on to college at Arkansas Polytechnic College in Russellville . While enrolled in Arkansas Polytechnical College , he enlisted in Battery D , 206th Coast Artillery , Arkansas Army National Guard . Following graduation , he attend law school at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville . While attending law school Gordon joined Sigma Nu Fraternity and served as chapter president . He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1939 . Gordon practiced law in his hometown of Morrilton before joining the Navy in May 1941 . After qualifying as a naval aviator , he was sent to the southwest Pacific Ocean , where he would serve more than two years . He joined Patrol Squadron 34 , nicknamed the " Black Cats " , a PBY Catalina patrol and rescue squadron based at Samarai Advanced Seaplane Base in Milne Bay , New Guinea . By February 15 , 1944 , he was a lieutenant , junior grade , in command of a Catalina , Bureau Number 08139 , which he nicknamed " Arkansas Traveler " . On that day , Gordon rescued 15 survivors of several downed aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces , for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor . He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant , and served in the Navy until 1945 , when he was released from active duty . After the war , Gordon formed a business partnership with his brother , Edward Gordon , Jr . , and returned to the practice of law in Morrilton . His political career began in 1946 , when he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas under Governor Benjamin Travis Laney . He took office in January 1947 and was re - elected to nine more two - year terms , finally leaving office in January 1967 . During his tenure he served under four different Governors : Laney ( 1945 – 1949 ) , Sid McMath ( 1949 – 1953 ) , Francis Cherry ( 1953 – 1955 ) , and Orval Faubus ( 1955 – 1967 ) . Gordon did not seek reelection in 1966 , when the Democratic nominee , James Pilkinton of Hope , narrowly lost the general election to Maurice L . Britt , the first Republican to hold the state ' s second highest office since Reconstruction . Like Gordon , Britt was also a military hero . Medal of Honor mission . On February 15 , the Fifth Air Force attacked Kavieng on the island of New Ireland . The mission consisted of four squadrons of A - 20 Havoc s from the 3rd Bombardment Group that attacked shipping in the harbor , and seven squadrons of B - 25 ' s from the 38th and 345th Group s that bombed facilities along the harbor front . Accurate antiaircraft fire shot down eight of the low - level strafers . Gordon ' s PBY Catalina , " Gardenia Six " , was on station near Witu , escorted by four P - 47 Thunderbolt s of the 348th Fighter Group . In one of the " most striking rescues of the war , " he made four separate landings and take - offs under Japanese fire . On his first landing , endangered by waves that were breaking 16 to 18 feet high , he searched for the crew of a downed A - 20 without locating survivors . The aircraft was severely stressed and took on water from numerous burst seams . After taking off , Gordon was directed twice to pick up nine men of two B - 25s that had ditched , forced to shut down one or both engines to effect the rescues , while two other B - 25s strafed the Japanese gun positions to suppress their fire . After the PBY started back to base and its fighter escorts had departed , low on fuel , one of the B - 25s spotted two rafts and called back the rescue aircraft . Despite heavy seas and a damaged aircraft , Lt . ( j . g . ) Gordon executed another landing only 600 yards from shore , overflying Japanese gun positions at low level to land , and picked up an additional six airmen . His final takeoff with 24 men aboard was with a dangerously overloaded aircraft , but he managed to keep the Catalina ' s nose up until he reached flying speed without nosing over in the rough seas . Gordon received the Medal of Honor in September 1944 , and his crew of eight each received the Silver Star . Medal of Honor citation . Lieutenant Gordon ' s official Medal of Honor citation reads : For extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty as commander of a Catalina patrol plane in rescuing personnel of the U . S . Army 5th Air Force shot down in combat over Kavieng Harbor in the Bismarck Sea , February 15 , 1944 . On air alert in the vicinity of Vitu Islands , Lt . ( then Lt . j . g . ) Gordon unhesitatingly responded to a report of the crash and flew boldly into the harbor , defying close - range fire from enemy shore guns to make 3 separate landings in full view of the Japanese and pick up 9 men , several of them injured . With his cumbersome flying boat dangerously overloaded , he made a brilliant takeoff despite heavy swells and almost total absence of wind and set a course for base , only to receive the report of another group stranded in a rubber life raft 600 yards from the enemy shore . Promptly turning back , he again risked his life to set his plane down under direct fire of the heaviest defenses of Kavieng and take aboard 6 more survivors , coolly making his fourth dexterous takeoff with 15 rescued officers and men . By his exceptional daring , personal valor , and incomparable airmanship under most perilous conditions , Lieutenant Gordon prevented certain death or capture of our airmen by the Japanese .