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Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham, Vietnam War hero convicted of accepting bribes as a congressman, dies at 83

Randy Cunningham earned the Navy Cross as a Vietnam War ace before a 15-year congressional career ended with a $2.4 million bribery conviction and eight years in prison.

  • Former Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham died Wednesday at age 83 in a Little Rock, Arkansas hospital, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported and retired Rep. Duncan L. Hunter confirmed Friday.
  • Cunningham pleaded guilty on Nov. 28, 2005, admitting to accepting at least $2.4 million in illegal gifts from defense contractors to steer Pentagon contracts.
  • A decorated Navy pilot, Navy Cmdr. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham earned the Navy Cross and two Silver Stars with three MiGs downed and said, `Whatever I get, I want Willy to get, or I will not accept it`.
  • He was sentenced in 2006 to eight years and four months, serving most of the term before release in 2013, and President Donald Trump granted a pardon in January 2021 citing his prison tutoring and volunteering.
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American fighter pilot and politician Randy Cunningham has died at the age of 83. As a Vietnam War hero, he inspired the makers of the film Top Gun, but later fell into disrepute as a politician due to a massive bribery scandal. California-born "Duke" Cunningham joined the U.S. Navy in 1967. Five years later, he made history by becoming the first ace of the Vietnam War: a pilot to shoot down at least five enemy aircraft. Cunningham had already c…

·Netherlands
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Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, Vietnam War hero convicted of accepting bribes as a congressman, dies at 83

Randy “Duke” Cunningham, whose feats as a U.S. Navy flying ace during the Vietnam War catapulted him to a U.S House of Representatives career that ended in disgrace when he was convicted of accepting $2.4 million in bribes, has died.

·United States
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Stars and StripesStars and Stripes
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New Hampshire Union LeaderNew Hampshire Union Leader
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Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham, naval aviator and corrupt appropriator, dies at 83

·Washington, United States
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San Diego Union Tribune broke the news in San Diego, United States on Friday, August 29, 2025.
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