Hunter honors Duke Cunningham, remembering Vietnam War valor over scandal

Retired Congressman Duncan L. Hunter issued a statement honoring his late colleague Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who died last week at age 83, focusing on the decorated pilot’s military service rather than the bribery scandal that ended his political career.

“Duke Cunningham, my friend and colleague, represented the very best of American Heroes who go out to meet our enemies at the gates,” Hunter said in a tribute to the former San Diego congressman and went on to describe his military awards.

Cunningham became the first fighter ace of the Vietnam War after shooting down five enemy aircraft, earning the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars and a Purple Heart for his extraordinary combat actions. Hunter detailed Cunningham’s acts of courage, including positioning himself between enemy formations and friendly forces while outnumbered and continuing attacks under heavy fire to rescue fellow pilots.

Hunter, father of disgraced Rep. Duncan Duane Hunter, acknowledged “lots of media criticism” that surrounded Cunningham’s later years but emphasized his wartime valor.

“During the spring of 1972 when the politicians had abandoned South Vietnam, Duke saddled up each day with his co-pilot Bill ‘Irish’ Driscoll and catapulted off the deck of the Constellation to fly a gauntlet of anti-aircraft fire and shoot down five enemy aircraft,” Hunter stated.

Drawing from James Michener’s “The Bridges at Toko Ri,” Hunter reflected on the type of person who serves in combat, according to the book.

“The answer is sometimes they come from the little town of Shelbina, Missouri and they are once brave, sometimes reckless, sometimes rough-edged…but always willing to go to the sound of the guns.”

Cunningham served in Congress from 1991 until his resignation in 2005 following a bribery conviction. He was sentenced to more than eight years in prison but was later pardoned by President Trump in 2021.

“May Gold bless Duke Cunningham,” Hunter concluded the statement.