Description

Floyd Sykes, like many thousands of other Naval Aviators, flew tactical jets off aircraft carriers. What makes his story different is he kept a day-by-day diary of his experiences, and painted award-winning artwork of the events, in particular his 1968 combat cruise embarked in CV-14, the USS Ticonderoga. After his retirement, Floyd’s Diary, and the hundreds of photographs taken from the cockpit, were put away. No family member really was aware of what this combat cruise was really like, written by a person who was engaged in the nasty, day to day, combat flying from a small deck carrier in a rapidly escalating conflict; like many Vietnam Vets, Floyd didn’t talk much about his combat experience. 50 years after the fact, this is his story.