Fwd: Child actor, pilot, & Uncle Fester... Jackie Coogan!
- From: John Gilll <corkygill33@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Harris Hill <hhsc1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2015 10:40:16 -0400
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Neel <neelrennick@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, Oct 4, 2015 at 9:28 PM
Subject: Fwd: Child actor, pilot, & Uncle Fester... Jackie Coogan!
To: Jim Paris <onefox1f@xxxxxxxxx>, Corky Gill <corkygill33@xxxxxxxxx>, Moe
Acee <moacee@xxxxxxx>, Janine Acee <julietniner@xxxxxxxxx>, Zofia Acee <
zofiajacee@xxxxxxxxx>, Sharon Paris <sharon.paris1f@xxxxxxxxx>, Erika
Dunigan <erika.dunigan@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent from my iPad
Begin forwarded message:
*From:* "Norman
*Date:* October 4, 2015 at 19:39:54 CDT
*To:* "'Neel'" <neelrennick@xxxxxxxxx>, "'Gail Seely'" <
gailseely@xxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* *FW: Child actor, pilot, & Uncle Fester... Jackie Coogan!*
Coogan enlisted in the United States Army in March 1941. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor, he requested a transfer to United States Army
Air Forces as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying
experience. After graduating from glider school, he was made a flight
officer and he volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air
Commando Group. In December 1943, the unit was sent to India. He flew
British troops, the Chindits, under General Orde Wingate on March 5,
1944, landing them at night in a small jungle clearing
100 miles behind Japanese lines in the Burma campaign.
---
Coogan, jobless and moneyless, enlisted into the US Army in the spring
of 1941. He married his second wife, Flower Perry, that summer (they
would have one kid, writer/producer/3D pioneer John Anthony Coogan).
And when Pearl harbor dragged the US into World War II, Coogan
requested transfer to the Army Air Corps and ended up becoming a
Flight Officer and glider pilot. For those not familiar with WWII
gliders, they were how you inserted soldiers behind enemy lines before
the helicopter. Literally nothing more than a fragile, fabric-covered,
engineless airframes with seats, they were towed to altitude by a
cargo plane, then released and left to glide down to the ground. The
pilot had to dead-stick the plane to a landing, typically in a rough
field far from a runway. It was a dangerous task even under ideal
conditions.
But Flight Officer Jackie Coogan, rather than shirk, volunteered for
progressively more daring missions, eventually joining the 1st Air
Commando Group. This group, which remains in existence today, was and
is one of the primary US military forces for inserting special
operations forces deep behind enemy lines.
Coogan saw action in Southeast Asia on March 5th, 1944, when his
glider was among those delivering General Orde Wingate's "Chindits"
(British special forces, including elements from the 2nd Gurkha
Rifles) deep behind Japanese lines.
Landing a heavy glider is hard enough under training conditions.
Landing one onto a crude strip hacked from out of virgin jungle, at
night, under blackout, hundreds of miles behind enemy lines in a war
zone...let's just say that takes a level of daring and skill few
possess. He completed his mission. Enough said.
He was also well-loved by the commandos he served with, where the
sheer fact that he had been married to Betty Grable - pin up queen of
the war - made him a legend.
Flight Officer Coogan, we salute you for your service. R.I.P..
Other related posts:
- » Fwd: Child actor, pilot, & Uncle Fester... Jackie Coogan! - John Gilll
