A Navy Commander who helped evacuate 3-thousand people during the fall of Saigon, has died in La Mesa.
Vern Jump was Air Boss of the U.S. S. Midway, and guided scores of evacuation helicopters onto the aircraft carrier's deck during a 30 hour period in April of 1975. This was as North Vietnamese forces were taking control of Saigon.
Jump also helped to create the Navy's Top Gun Fighter Pilot School in Miramar.
He retired in 1982 with after 31 years of service with the Navy.
Vernon Lee Jumper was born on February 20th, 1932, in Phoenix, Arizona. He was the only child of James and Evelyn Jumper. The family later moved to Los Angeles where they ran a pastry shop.
Jump passed away at his home in La Mesa on July 4th. He was 93 years old.