2012 Silver Wings Speakers Luncheon Serie: Capt. Rosario "Zip" Rausa, USN (Ret.) on November 15, 2012

Captain Rosario "Zip" Rausa, USN (Ret.), a native of Hamilton, New York joined the Navy following graduation from Middlebury College in 1957. He won his wings two years later and as a Naval Aviator flew A-1 Skyraiders, A-4 Skyhawks and A-7 Corsair IIs, logging 4,400 flight hours and 498 arrested landings on several aircraft carriers. He flew 150 combat missions in Skyraiders during the Vietnam War. Shore duty assignments included two tours on the editorial staff of Naval Aviation News and Head of the Naval Aviation History Office. He was the writer for the popular "Grampaw Pettibone" safety feature in Naval Aviation News for 20 years. He was also the commanding officer of the Naval Reserve Center in Whitestone, New York. He retired from the Navy in 1988 while serving in the Pentagon as a coordinator of safety issues in concert with the Naval Safety Center.

He has written or co-authored seven books on aviation subjects. He has been the editor of Wings of Gold magazine since 1988. He and his wife, Neta, who reside in Vienna, Virginia, have five children and eight grandchildren.