By Jack Williams, Staff Writer

Helicopter rescue missions during the Vietnam War provided Rear Adm. Paul C. Gibbons with some of his most memorable moments in a 30-year naval career.

As commanding officer of the guided-missile frigate Preble, he oversaw the June 19, 1968, nighttime mission that resulted in a Medal of Honor for aviator Clyde Lassen.

In two tours of Vietnam, one as a ship commander and another based on land, Adm. Gibbons earned a Distinguished Service Medal, a Bronze Star and nine Air Medals.

"He was especially proud of the Air Medals because he wasn't an aviator," said his wife, Valerie. "They were awarded for helicopter missions in which he road along."

Adm. Gibbons, who retired from the Navy in 1982, died of cancer May 17 in his Coronado home. He was 71.

Settling in Coronado upon his retirement, Adm. Gibbons began civilian life as an associate dean for operations and administration in UCLA's Graduate School of Management. Five years later, he became director of corporate relations at the University of San Diego, heading fund-raising efforts in the business community.

Before being diagnosed with cancer in 1996, he headed a Coronado-based leadership training program, presenting seminars to senior Navy, Marine and civilian leaders throughout the country.

While growing up in his native Los Angeles, Adm. Gibbons boxed in Golden Glove competitions and acted in school plays at Loyola High School. After enrolling at the University of Southern California, he joined the Navy ROTC and was commissioned as an ensign after his 1952 graduation.

Carrying a dual major of naval science and zoology, Adm. Gibbons served during college as president of Kappa Sigma Fraternity.

Early in his naval career, he was assigned to the attack transport Okanagon and destroyers Swenson and Parsons. On Sept. 16, 1967, he took over as commanding officer of the Preble.

Before commanding search and rescue assignments off the coast of Vietnam, Adm. Gibbons conducted training sessions at Subic Bay, the Philippines.

During operations against enemy forces in North Vietnam, Lt. Lassen, attached to Helicopter Support Squadron 7, began his historic mission shortly after midnight.

He rescued two downed aviators in the face of enemy fire, returning with five minutes worth of fuel in the chopper's tank.

In 1971, Adm. Gibbons was appointed commander of Delta Naval Forces in Vietnam and later became a senior adviser to the Vietnamese vice chief of naval operations for riverine warfare.

His final tour of duty station was in London, where he served as deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff for U.S. Naval Forces Europe.

Adm. Gibbons' first civilian job involved commuting five days a week from Coronado to UCLA's Westwood campus. "He drove back and forth for awhile, then the school flew him back and forth," his wife said.

He also stayed at times in the Los Angeles home of his widowed mother, Marguerite Gibbons, who died in 1985. While employed by UCLA, he studied broadcasting and graduated from the Columbia School of Broadcasting.

"He had always been a wonderful speaker, with a great voice," his wife said. "He was hopeful of getting a job in broadcasting but it didn't work out."

Adm. Gibbons was an avid tennis player before his illness and a lifelong movie buff.

"He was always ready with the recollection of an obscure actor's name from an obscure, and usually very old, film," his wife said.

Survivors include his wife of 26 years, Valerie; daughters, Laura Gibbons of Orcas Island, Wash., Laura Darrow of Portsmouth, R.I., Stephanie Kane of Salt Lake City, Carolyn Crawford of San Diego; and a son, Christopher of San Diego; and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 8 at North Island Navy Chapel. Cremation was planned, with ashes to be scattered at sea.

Donations are suggested to the American Cancer Society.

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