Marie Rossi

Marie Therese Rossi Cayton

Major Rossi Cayton
Born 1959
Oradell, New Jersey
Died 1991 (age 32)
Saudi Arabia
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Service/branch Army
Years of service 1980 - 1991
Rank Major
Commands held B Company, 159th Aviation Regiment
Battles/wars Operation Desert Storm

Marie Therese Rossi Cayton (January 3, 1959 – March 1, 1991) of Oradell, New Jersey, was a Major in the United States Army. She was the first woman in United States history to serve as an Aviation Commander during combat, and the first woman pilot in United States history to fly in combat during the Gulf War in 1991. She died when the CH-47 Chinook she was piloting crashed in Saudi Arabia, on 1 March 1991.[1]

Contents

Biography

Marie Therese Rossi was born in Oradell, New Jersey on January 3, 1959, the third of four children born to Paul and Gertrude Rossi. Her father was a book bindery treasurer, and her mother was a secretary for a Wall Street firm.[2] In 1976, she graduated from River Dell Regional High School and began attending Dickinson College, where she also joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Rossi graduated in 1980, with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.[3]

Rossi served as a CH-47 Chinook pilot with the 18th Aviation Brigade, commanding B Company, 2d Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, Savannah, Georgia. Her company deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield in 1990. Rossi was interviewed by CNN prior to the ground assault by Coalition forces. She said, "Sometimes, you have to disassociate how you feel personally about the prospect of going into war and, you know, possibly see the death that's going to be out there. But personally, as an aviator and a soldier, this is the moment that everybody trains for -- that I've trained for -- so I feel ready to meet a challenge."[4]

Rossi led a flight of her company's CH-47 Chinook helicopters 50 miles (80 km) into Iraq on 24 February 1991, ferrying fuel and ammunition during the very first hours of the ground assault by the Coalition Forces. Her company would be involved in supply missions throughout the war. Rossi was killed when her helicopter crashed into an unlit microwave tower in Northern Saudi Arabia on March 1, 1991, the day after the ceasefire agreement. She was buried in Section 8 of Arlington National Cemetery on 11 March 1991.

“ What I'm doing is no greater or less than the man who is flying next to me or in back of me...[5] ”

Marriage

Rossi was married to Chief Warrant Officer John Anderson Cayton.

References

  1. ^ "Oradell Pilot Mourned.". Bergen Record. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22578290.html. Retrieved 2008-04-20. "During her summertime days as a lifeguard in Oradell in the late 1970s, Marie Therese Rossi relished battling her male colleagues in hard-fought water polo matches, friends say."She didn't consider herself a girl playing with the guys. To Marie, everybody was just a lifeguard, and she competed that way," said Bill Molnar, her former boss at Oradell Swim Club ..." 
  2. ^ "Marie Rossi". People. periodical. 30 May 1991. Retrieved on 30 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Marie T. Rossi, USA, Class of 1980". Encyclopedia Dickinsonia. Retrieved on 28 Aug 2009.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Joseph F. "Army Pilot's Death Stuns Her New Jersey Neighbors". New York Times. newspaper article. 7 March 1991. Accessed on 30 August 2009.
  5. ^ Schubert, Frank N. Whirlwind War: The United States Army in Desert Storm. [S.l.]: Center For Military Hist, 1996. ISBN 9780788128295

External links