Born Gerald Dwight Coleman on 24 March 1916 in Wichita Falls, Texas to parents James H. Coleman, Sr. and the former Rose May Dwight of Grapevine, Texas.

In 1935, he graduated from Gray High School in Idabel, Oklahoma and worked for the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) at Fort Worth, Texas. He also served as a Sergeant in the National Guard and was called to active duty at Camp Barkeley near Abilene, Texas. On Wednesday 19 March 1941, he married Miss Katherine Bayless of Idabel, Oklahoma in a single-ring ceremony at the Grace Methodist parsonage in Dallas, Texas.

He was selected for aviation cadet (ASN: 20842183) training, and transferred to in the Army Air Corps on 10 May 1942 at Dallas, Texas. On 18 September 1942, he began pre-flight ground school, Primary and Basic flight training. On 20 June 1943, he graduated from Advanced two-engine pilot flight training at Columbus Army Airfield, Mississippi and was commissioned (ASN: O-806220) a Second Lieutenant in the USAAF.

In February 1944, he deployed from Hamilton Field, California to the South Pacific and was assigned to 13th Air Force, 307th Bombardment Group (The Long Rangers), 372nd Bomb Squadron stationed at Carney Field on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands; with subsequent deployments to Munda Point Airfield in New Georgia, and Mokerang Airfield on Los Negros in the Admiralty Islands.

On 25 June 1944, he flew from Mokerang Airfield in the left seat as the Pilot aboard a Consolidated B-24J Liberator (serial #44-40598). It was one of 24 bombers dispatched to bombard Japanese Forces at the Yap Airdrome in the Caroline Islands.

After bombs away, his aircraft was attacked by a “Zeke” Mitsubishi A6M Zero single-engine fighter, and sustained hits on the #2 and #3 engines. The pilot’s cockpit and bombardier’s compartment were observed with flames coming out of the windows, which had been shot out. His aircraft went into a right spin and was strafed all the way down to the water, crashing approximately two miles off the southeast tip of Yap Island.

No parachutes were seen to deploy and a four-day search & rescue patrol by the USS Albacore (SS-218) failed to find any sign of aircraft wreckage or survivors. He was officially declared KIA on the date of the mission.

Gerald D Coleman