Memorials › 2LT Wayland Edward Bennett

2LT Wayland Edward Bennett

21 Nov 1922 – 22 Oct 1943

Birth21 Nov 1922
Death22 Oct 1943
CemeteryHillcrest Cemetery
Texarkana , Bowie County , Texas , USA
Added byDoris Lindblad on 02 Jun 2013
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51242559

Bio

Wayland enlisted in the USNR Class V-5 on May 5th, 1942, as a Seaman 2nd Class. But he wanted to be a pilot and was released to report for primary flight training on July 16, 1942. He was stationed at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station as an aviation cadet. He trained from August 8th, 1942, until April 1st, 1943, when he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps. On April 24, 1943, he was awarded the Naval Aviator Designation (heavier than air): Wayland was a pilot! He then went through advanced training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, FL, and NAS Glenview, IL. On July 9th, 1943, he was reassigned to Marine Corps Aviation Base Kearney (now Miramar), at Linda Vista, San Diego, California. He completed Operational Carrier Qualification (F4U-1) in the new Chance-Vought Corsair. Wayland's last stateside duty was in San Diego, where he arrived on September 3, 1943, and left on September 27th, 1943, aboard the USS Mount Vernon. He crossed the equator on the way to the South Pacific, earning for himself the title of Domain of Neptunus Rex. He arrived in the New Hebrides and began flying for VMF-214, the Black Sheep Squadron, on Oct 10th, 1943. Wayland flew 2-3 times a day, mainly searching for downed airplanes and improving his flight skills in the Corsair F4U-1. Then, on October 22, 1943, while flying from Turtle Bay Airfield, Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides Group, tragedy struck: his plane's wing pin snapped, the wing came up over the canopy, and the plane crashed. Wayland Edward Bennett was 20 years, 11 months, and 1 day old when he was killed in an airplane crash. *********************************************** Service No. #O-20609 U.S., World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945 lists his Next of Kin's Home of Record as Father: Mr. Richmond O. Bennett, 1101 Bowie Street; Texarkana, Texas. Killed In Action.

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