Douglas Farris Mow – Rear Admiral, United States Navy

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From a contemporary press report:

Douglas Farris Mow, 70, a retired Navy Rear Admiral who was a heavily decorated combat aviation veteran of the Vietnam War, died November 25, 1998 at Pentagon City Hospital after a heart attack. He lived in Alexandria, Virginia.

Admiral Mow, who served in the Navy 30 years before retiring in 1981,  went to Vietnam in 1967 as an attack squadron commander. He served as a Seventh Fleet air warfare officer in the Pacific in 1969, then spent 1970 and 1971 as commander of a carrier air wing in Vietnamese waters.

During those years, in addition to leading air wing strikes against an  increasingly heavily defended North Vietnam, he also led the Navy air forces that flew combat support in the raid on Son Tay to free American prisoners of war.

Admiral Mow’s decorations, for actions in war and peace, included the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, three awards of the Legion of Merit, three awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars and five Air Medals. He also received three Navy Commendation Medals,
all with “V” for valor.

After his years in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, he commanded a light attack wing based in Jacksonville, Florida, then served as a naval aide and  executive assistant to the secretary of the Navy from 1973 to 1977. His last assignment, at Virginia Beach, was as commander of all tactical carrier-based planes in the Atlantic Fleet.

Admiral Mow, a Colorado native, was a 1951 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and he received a master’s degree in physics from the Naval Post Graduate School at Monterey, California.

Before going to Vietnam, he qualified as a night attack pilot, served as a carrier air wing nuclear weapons employment officer, did research and development work with the Defense Nuclear Agency in New Mexico and held a staff post in the office of the chief of Naval Operations.

From 1982 to 1996, he did consulting work on defense industry matters.

Admiral Mow, who had maintained a home in the Washington area for the past 25 years, had served as a senior warden and trustee of St. James Episcopal Church in Alexandria. He was a past regional president of Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, and had chaired its Commission on Church Planting and its Task Force on Regional Structure.

He had done volunteer work with Meals on Wheels and served as a sponsor of the Heritage Foundation. He was a member of the Virginia Historical Society, the Alexandria Association, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and the Army & Navy and Army Navy country clubs.

Survivors include his wife of 47 years, Rosalie J. Mow of Alexandria; a  son, Army Lieutenant Colonel Douglas F. Mow Jr. of Arlington; three daughters, Deborah M. Mainwaring of Dothan, Ala., and Laura C. Mow and Nancy M. Mow, both of Alexandria; and three grandchildren.

MOW, DOUGLAS FARRIS, SR.,
Rear Admiral USN (Ret.)

On Wednesday, November 25, 1998 of Alexandria, VA; husband of  Rosalie J. Mow; father of Douglas F. Jr. Ltd. USA, Deborah M. Mainwaring, Laura C. Mow, and Nancy M. Mow; also survived by three grandchildren Brian, Todd, and Jeffrey Mainwaring. Funeral services will be held on Sunday, December 13, 1998, at 5 p.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, 5614 Old Mill Rd, Mount Vernon, VA. Interment with full military honors will be on Monday, December 14, at 9 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery (Friends and family assembling at the Administration Building at 8:30 a.m.). In lieu of flowers the family wishes that contributions be made in Admiral Mow’s memory to the Church Planting Fund of the Diocese of Virginia, Admiral Mow Memorial, 3737 Seminary Rd, Alexandria, VA 22304.

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