From Vietnam to F/A-18s with "Bear"

Fighter Pilot Podcast

E. Vincent "Jell-O" Aiello, Retired U.S. Navy Fighter Pilot

History, Personal Journals, Technology, Society & Culture, Government, Leisure, Aviation

4.9 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

October 2025 marks 250 years of the U.S. Navy and we begin our monthlong celebration with retired Rear Admiral Jeremy "Bear" Taylor, who considers himself the luckiest man alive.

Commissioned in 1957, Bear would accumulate more than 6,000 flight hours in fighters and trainers and over 1,000 carrier landings during his 35+ years of service. He was assigned to 13 different aircraft carriers and flew 50 additional types and models of aircraft, including 10 helicopters.

During the Vietnam War, Bear flew the A-4 Skyhawk, accruing 200+ Rolling Thunder missions in North Vietnam. He fired numerous AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-ground missiles and was later involved in developing the JDAM. Bear commanded an A-7 Corsair II squadron, the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea, and the Strike Fighter Wing of the Pacific Fleet.

Visit https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/ where Bear and other Vietnam veteran stories are chronicled.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-fighter-pilot-podcast/donations

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Fighter Pilot podcast.
0:09.9	I am your host, Vincent Aiello, Callsangelo, and in case you missed it at the end of the
0:14.6	CH-47 Chinook episode last week, the U.S. Navy celebrates its 250th birthday this month, October 2025. And to commemorate the
0:24.8	occasion, we are airing nautical-themed episodes every Monday of this month. And as a sneak
0:30.6	peek, we will continue every Monday into November as we celebrate the Marine Corps' 250th birthday
0:36.2	that month. To kick off the festivities,
0:38.8	this week, we are airing a 2020 exclusive from Patreon. On that platform, supporters of the show
0:45.9	enjoy exclusive perks, one of which used to be happy hour discussions, which were like
0:51.0	interviews, but more casual and meandering without the usual format or call-sign
0:55.6	questions at the end.
0:57.2	Well, this particular happy hour was with retired rear admiral Jeremy Taylor, call-sign
1:03.1	bear, who had quite a career, as you'll soon learn.
1:06.9	Patreon supporters were there as we recorded and able to ask questions, which added actually a really interesting and new dynamic to the discussion.
1:14.9	But the problem is, this audio was peeled from the Zoom video.
1:19.4	So it's not as pristine as our producer, Daryl Smith, is usually able to perfect, but the content, I think, more than makes up for it.
1:26.5	I think you will also agree once you hear it.
1:29.2	So let's get to this 2020 happy hour replay with Jeremy Taylor,
1:34.3	call sign Bear, and I'll be back on the flip side.
1:36.8	Here we go.
1:43.8	Bear, instead of me butchering your extensive background, why don't you give us a quick summary of where you're from, but also mainly, I think I saw 50 aircraft, all the teen fighters, the A4 through the F18, thousand traps, a bunch of hours. Tell us about you, sir.
2:03.8	I'm a Baltimore boy originally and I grew up with my old man had an idea to send a
2:10.5	Naval Academy. My algebra geometry trig grades didn't get me in. So I went to work out of high school as a copy boy in Baltimore.
	...

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