User:PIAM54/sandbox
| Rank | Unit | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Col. | Army | Aug. 1944 |
| Lieut. Col. | Army | 1 May 1944 |
| Major | Army | 18 Mar. 1943 |
| Col. | Army | 4 Jan. 1943 |
| Lieut. Col. | Army | 23 Jan. 1942 |
| Major (temp.) | Army | 15 Jul. 1941 |
| Capt. | Army. | 11 Jun. 1941 |
| Capt. | Army | 9 Sept. 1940 |
| 1 Lieut. | Army | 1 Aug. 1935 |
| 1 Lieut.(temp) | Army | 18 May 1935-31 Jul 1935 |
| 2 Lieut. | Air Corps | 25 Jan. 1933 |
| 2 Lieut. | Infantry | 11 Jun 1931 |
Military Career
[edit]Following his graduation from West Point in 1931, Williams enlisted, as a 2nd Lt., in the U.S. Army Air Corps and completed his basic and advanced flight trainings at Randolph and Kelly Fields, San Antonio, TX. He opted for multi-engined aircraft (i.e. medium and heavy bombers). In 1938 he was honored as a 1st Lt., to be chosen one of the pilots of a pioneering flight of six early YB-17A "Flying Fortress" four-engined heavy bombers, on President Roosevelt's prescient Hemispheric Defense Initiative, flying 6,000 miles from Langley Field, VA, to Lima, Peru and Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1941 the United States Army Signal Corps released a photograph of Army planes arriving at Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. Williams. by then a Major, was shown on guard duty with the plane.[2]
World War II
[edit]During the Second World War, Col. Williams became a renowned officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces' 9th Air Force as commander of the B-26 'Marauder' twin engined medium bombers of the 391st Bombardment Group[3] from 1943 to 1945. He personally led more than 75 missions, often placing himself as lead pilot in his B-26 Lady Belle on low-level bombing runs against heavily defended Axis targets in Occupied France. He won Distinguished Flying Crosses from both the USAAF (with two Oak Leaf Clusters), as well as from the Royal Air Force, and the Croix de Guerre from liberated France. Thus three nations paid tribute to his valor and leadership. In 1945 Gerald E. Williams was awarded a Silver Star Citation for conspicuous gallantry in actionwhile serving with the Ninth Air Force.[4]
"The inexorable determination, outstanding skill and unhesitating courage of the officers and men of the group in so brilliantly carrying the attack to the enemy is in keeping with the highest traditions of the Army Air Forces."[5]
Buenos Aires
[edit]On 21 April 1948 Col. Williams was appointed Asst. Air Attaché to the American Embassy in Buenos Aires.[6] Less than a year later, on 17 January 1949, Col. Williams, his wife and six other Air Force officers and enlisted men, were killed when the Air Force C-47 transport piloted by Williams crashed on an Andean mountain in NW Argentina, on a flight from Panama en route to Buenos Aires.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ United States Adjutant General's Office (1946). Official Army Register. Washington,D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- ^ [www.Genealogybank.com "United States Army Lands in Giana by Sea and Air"]. Dallas Morning News. 5 Dec 1941. Retrieved 17 Feb 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ [www.genealogybank.com "Tacoman Killed"]. Seattle Daily Times. 19 Feb 1949. Retrieved 17 Feb 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ "Silver Star Citation for Gerald E. Williams". Military Times Hall of Valour. Military Times Network. Retrieved 18 Feb 2013.
- ^ "Aircraft Armorer". Evening Recorder. 24 Feb 1945. Retrieved 18 Feb 2013.
- ^ Grodecki, Maj. Thomas S. (1988). [www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a194175.pdf Military Observers 1815-1975] (PDF). Washington, D.C: Center of Military History.
{{cite book}}: Check|url=value (help) - ^ [www.genealogybank.com "Air Attache Killed With Wife in Crash"]. San Diego Union. 19 Feb 1949. Retrieved 17 Feb 2013.
{{cite news}}: Check|url=value (help)