Robert Earl Forgy, Jr., retired admiral of the US Navy with 38 years of service, was born July 8, 1920 in Long Beach, California. Moving with his family to El Dorado, KS as a child, he also was a former owner and partner of the Lasting Furniture and Carpet Company in El Dorado.

 

A 1942 graduate of the University of Kansas, Forgy served with distinction during World War II as a bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he joined the Naval Reserve, attaining the rank of rear admiral, the highest rank for a Naval Reserve officer.

 

The former Naval aviator established a long-distance record in 1961 for a nonstop, un-refueled flight in a P2V Neptune aircraft, flown from Hawaii to Olathe, KS, a distance covering about 3,600 miles.

 

Among awards and medals Forgy received during his time of enlistment were the Legion of Merit medal, three air medals for battles fought in the Pacific, the Victory Medal, the Naval Reserve and Armed Forces Reserve Medals, and a unit citation for his wartime squadron.