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Nathan Green Gordon was born on 4 September 1916 in Morrilton,
Arkansas. He graduated from Columbia Military Academy in 1933.
He participated in varsity football and baseball.
He then attended Arkansas Polytechnic College and the University
of Arkansas, graduating with a Law Degree in 1939. He was a member
of the team that won a conference title for the Southwest Conference
in 1936.
In 1941, he enlisted in the US Naval Reserve. Gordon completed
flight training and received his Navy wings in 1942. He served
in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II earning
two Distinguished Flying Crosses and six Air Medals. On 29 April
1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded Lieutenant Gordon
the Congressional Medal of Honor for "extraordinary heroism
above and beyond the call of duty...in rescuing personnel...shot
down in combat over Kavieng Harbor in the Bismark Sea."
He was released from active service as a Lieutenant Commander
in 1945. He then returned to Morrilton, resuming his law practice.
In 1946 he was elected lieutenant governor for the State of Arkansas,
an office he held for 20 years. He continued law practice until
retiring in 1992.
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