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In Their Honor: The Men Behind the Names of Our Military Installations is a collection of 524 biographies about men who performed heroic deeds, demonstrated civic responsibility, or in some way gave their lives in the defense of our country that the U. S. military chose to memorialized their names on the gates of installations, both in the United States and overseas.

In Their Honor gives the reader a glimpse into the lives of these military heroes from privates to generals, aviation pioneers, prisoners of war, civilians, astronauts, explorers and scientists, while at the same time provides a reference for historians, history buffs, veterans, and active duty personnel.

Selected Excerpts

Bolling Air Force Base

Location: Washington, D.C.
Status: Active
Named for: Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling
Date of Birth: September 1, 1877
Place of Birth: Hot Springs, Arkansas
Date of Death: March 26, 1918
Place of Death: Amiens-Saint-Quentin, France
Decorations and Honors: Distinguished Service Medal, posthumously; Cross of the Legion of Honor
Place of Burial: Somme American Cemetery and Memorial in Bony, France

Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, an aviation pioneer, was the first high-ranking American officer killed in combat during World War I.

Bolling grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut, and graduated from Penn Charter School in Philadelphia in 1896, from Harvard University in 1900, and from Harvard Law in 1902. He left his position as general solicitor of U.S. Steel to join the military where he helped establish the U.S. Military Aviation Service. In 1917, he rose to the rank of colonel with the U.S. Army Signal Corps and was made assistant chief of the U.S. Air Service. That same year, representing the secretary of war and the Air Service Production Board, he headed the Bolling Mission in Europe to report on aircraft production of the British de Havilland DH-4. He was also commander of the 102nd Rescue Squadron.

Bolling was ambushed and killed in an exchange of gunfire with German soldiers while driving near the front lines in France. He was married to Anna Tucker Phillips. They had five children.

“Let’s look inside and remember that it’s our ideals, our endeavors, our affections and love that are the realities in life.” ––Colonel Raynal C. Bolling

Luke Air Force Base

Location: Glendale, Arizona
Status: Active
Named for: First Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr.
Date of Birth: May 19, 1897
Place of Birth: Phoenix, Arizona
Date of Death: September 29, 1918
Place of Death: Murvaux, France
Decorations and Honors: Medal of Honor; Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster, posthumously; Croix de Guerre (Italy); inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame (1975)
Place of Burial: Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial in Romagne, France, Plot A, Grave 13

First Lieutenant Frank Luke, Jr., known as the “Arizona Balloon Buster,” was an ace pilot and the first American aviator to receive the Medal of Honor.

Luke enlisted in the Signal Corps’ aviation section on September 25, 1917. He soloed on December 12 at Rockwell Field in California, was commissioned in January 1918, and sent to France where he was assigned to the 27th Aero Squadron of the 1st Pursuit Group.

Luke was recognized as the most spectacular air fighter of World War I for shooting down eighteen airplanes and balloons, making him an ace pilot. Later, he went on to surpass Eddie Rickenbacker’s record. Thirteen of his victories were obtained in a single week. He was only twenty-one years old when he was killed.

His Medal of Honor citation for action during World War I reads as follows:

After having previously destroyed a number of enemy aircraft within seventeen days he voluntarily started on a patrol after German observation balloons. Though pursued by eight German planes which were protecting the enemy balloon line, he unhesitatingly attacked and shot down in flames three German balloons, being himself under heavy fire from ground batteries and the hostile planes. Severely wounded, he descended to within fifty meters of the ground, and flying at this low altitude near the town of Murvaux opened fire upon enemy troops, killing six and wounding as many more. Forced to make a landing and surrounded on all sides by the enemy, who called upon him to surrender, he drew his automatic pistol and defended himself gallantly until he fell dead from a wound in the chest.

Francis S. Gabreski Field

Location: Westhampton Beach, New York
Status: Active
Named for: Lieutenant Colonel Francis “Gabby” S. Gabreski
Date of Birth: January 28, 1919
Place of Birth: Oil City, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: January 31, 2002
Place of Death: Long Island, New York
Decorations and Honors: Distinguished Service Cross; Silver Star; Distinguished Flying Cross; Bronze Star; Air Medal; French Legion of Honor; French Croix de Guerre; Polish Croix des Vaillants; inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame (1978)
Date of Retirement: 1967
Place of Burial: Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, New York, Section 14, Site 724

Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Gabreski was the top American ace pilot in Europe.

Gabreski attended Notre Dame University but enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps before graduating. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Reserves where he flew sorties (low-flying missions) with the 45th Fighter Squadron against the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. He was a flight leader with the 56th Fighter Group, and being fluent in the Polish language, he was attached to the 315th (Polish) Squadron, RAF.

In July 1944, Gabreski surpassed Captain Eddie Rickenbacker’s World War I ace record with twenty-eight enemy fighters destroyed in aerial combat, plus three on the ground. After attacking an airfield in Germany, his plane crashed. He was taken prisoner and held captive at Stalag Luft I for ten months until the Russian army liberated him in April 1945. In April 1947, Gabreski was assigned as commanding officer of the 55th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. In August 1949, he became commander of the 56th Fighter Group at Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan.

In June 1951, he was assigned to the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing in Korea where he achieved another record as an ace pilot with six enemy fighters shot down in aerial combat. During his career, he accumulated more than five thousand flying hours, with four thousand hours of that time in a jet aircraft.

Gabreski became commander of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, and in 1954, he attended the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, graduating in 1955. He ended a distinguished air force career as commander of several tactical and air defense wings, and retired to become the presidential assistant for Grumman Aerospace Corporation. He lived in retirement on Long Island for many years as “America’s greatest living ace.” He was married to Kay Cochran.

He authored Gabby: A Fighter Pilot’s Life, as told to Carl Molesworth (Atglen, Pa.: Schiffer Pub., 1998).

Camp Bondsteel

Location: Kosovo
Status: Active
Named for: Staff Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel
Date of Birth: July 18, 1947
Place of Birth: Jackson, Michigan
Date of Death: April 9, 1987
Place of Death: Anchorage, Alaska
Decorations and Honors: Medal of Honor
Place of Burial: Fort Richardson National Cemetery in Alaska, Plot H-19

Staff Sergeant James Leroy Bondsteel served with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry, 1st Infantry Division, in Vietnam, and with the U.S. Task Force Falcon, in Kosovo.

His Medal of Honor citation for action during Vietnam reads as follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Staff Sergeant Bondsteel distinguished himself while serving as a platoon sergeant with Company A, near the village of Lang Sau. Company A was directed to assist a friendly unit which was endangered by intense fire from a North Vietnamese Battalion located in a heavily fortified base camp. Staff Sergeant Bondsteel quickly organized the men of his platoon into effective combat teams and spearheaded the attack by destroying four enemy occupied bunkers. He then raced some 200 meters under heavy enemy fire to reach an adjoining platoon, which had begun to falter. After rallying this unit and assisting their wounded, Staff Sergeant Bondsteel returned to his own sector with critically needed munitions. Without pausing he moved to the forefront and destroyed four enemy occupied bunkers and a machine gun, which had threatened his advancing platoon. Although painfully wounded by an enemy grenade, Staff Sergeant Bondsteel refused medical attention and continued his assault by neutralizing two more enemy bunkers nearby. While searching one of these emplacements Staff Sergeant Bondsteel narrowly escaped death when an enemy soldier detonated a grenade at close range. Shortly thereafter, he ran to the aid of a severely wounded officer and struck down an enemy soldier who was threatening the officer’s life. Staff Sergeant Bondsteel then continued to rally his men and led them through the entrenched enemy until his company was relieved. His exemplary leadership and great personal courage throughout the four-hour battle ensured the success of his own and nearby units, and resulted in the saving of numerous lives of his fellow soldiers. By individual acts of bravery he destroyed ten enemy bunkers and accounted for a large toll of the enemy, including two key enemy commanders. His extraordinary heroism at the risk of his life was in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Fort Buckner

Location: Okinawa
Status: Active
Named for: Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.
Date of Birth: July 18, 1886
Place of Birth: Munfordville, Kentucky
Date of Death: June 18, 1945
Place of Death: Okinawa
Place of Burial: Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky

Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., was the highest-ranking field commander to lose his life in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

Buckner graduated from West Point in 1908 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1925 and later taught there. He was also an instructor at Fort Benning in Georgia. In 1933, Buckner returned to West Point as an instructor, and later became commander of cadets.

In October 1939, Buckner was assigned to the 6th Division as chief of staff, and in July 1940, he was sent to Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, in charge of the Alaskan Defense Command. While there, he established Elmendorf Field in Anchorage; Ladd Field in Fairbanks; Fort Randall in Cold Bay; and Fort Glenn on Umnak Island.

Buckner was promoted to lieutenant general in May 1943 and transferred to Hawaii in August 1944, assigned to the Tenth Army, which he commanded during the battle of Okinawa. He was killed by enemy artillery fire while visiting the 8th Marine Regiment on the front lines.

A small memorial was erected in his honor at the location where he died. He was first buried in the Tenth Army Cemetery on Okinawa, but later his body was retuned to Kentucky to lie beside his father, who was a Civil War Confederate lieutenant general and governor of Kentucky. Congress posthumously promoted him to the rank of general in 1954.

Charles L. Kelly Army Heliport

Location: Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas
Status: Active
Named for: Major Charles L. Kelly
Date of Birth: April 11, 1925
Place of Birth: Warm Springs, Georgia
Date of Death: July 1, 1964
Place of Death: South Vietnam
Decorations and Honors: Distinguished Service Cross, posthumously; Silver Star; Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters; Bronze Star; Air Medal with 18 oak leaf clusters; Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster; Army Commendation Medal; Good Conduct Medal; Military Order Medal of Vietnam; Cross of Gallantry with palm; inducted into the Dustoff Hall of Fame, February 17, 2001

Major Charles L. Kelly served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.

Kelly was the commanding officer of the 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) in Vietnam in 1964. His call sign, “Dustoff,” could be heard throughout the Delta as he called to distant outposts, saying, “This is Dustoff. Just checking in to see if everything is okay.” Kelly’s Dustoff became the call sign for all aeromedical missions in Vietnam.

Concerned that medical helicopters would be converted and used for assault and general-purpose missions, Kelly increased operations to prove the helicopter’s worth. He flew almost every night checking for casualties and personally evacuated one-fourth of all evacuees, preventing many wounded from having to wait overnight for ground transportation.

It was on such a mission aboard the Bell UH-1B Huey helicopter (tail number 63-08591) that Kelly went to pick up wounded soldiers, only to find the enemy waiting. Advised repeatedly to withdraw, he replied to the ground element’s advisor, “When I have your wounded.” Shortly afterward, a round went through the door’s window and pierced his heart. His last words were, “My God.” His ship pitched up, nosed to the right, rolled over, and crashed.

His saying, “When I have your wounded” became the personal and collective credo of the many gallant medevac pilots who followed him.

Joseph G. LaPointe Heliport

Location: Adjacent to Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia
Status: Active
Named for: Specialist Fourth Class Joseph Guy LaPointe, Jr.
Date of Birth: July 2, 1948
Place of Birth: North Dayton, Ohio
Date of Death: June 2, 1969
Place of Death: Hill 376, Quang Tin Province, Republic of Vietnam
Decorations and Honors: Medal of Honor, posthumously; Silver Star; Bronze Star; Purple Heart; inducted into the Army Aviation Hall of Fame 1998
Place of Burial: Riverside Cemetery in West Milton, Ohio

Specialist Fourth Class Joseph Guy LaPointe, Jr., served with the 2nd Air Cavalry Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st Airborne Division.

LaPointe graduated from Northridge High School in Dayton, Ohio, in 1966 and worked as a mail carrier before being drafted in May 1968. At the time he was drafted, he had just applied for college. He wanted to study biology in hopes of working for the National Park System, the National Audubon Society, or the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. He was classified as a conscientious objector and was assigned as a medic. He received training at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, before being assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Cavalry. He was married to Cindy Failor.

His Medal of Honor citation for action during Vietnam reads as follows:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Specialist Fourth Class LaPointe, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, distinguished himself while serving as a medical aidman during a combat helicopter assault mission. Specialist Fourth Class LaPointe’s patrol was advancing from the landing zone through an adjoining valley when it suddenly encountered heavy automatic weapons fire from a large enemy force entrenched in well fortified bunker positions. In the initial hail of fire, two soldiers in the formation vanguard were seriously wounded. Hearing a call for aid from one of the wounded, Specialist Fourth Class LaPointe ran forward through heavy fire to assist his fallen comrades. To reach the wounded men, he was forced to crawl directly in view of an enemy bunker. As members of his unit attempted to provide covering fire, he administered first aid to one man, shielding the other with his body. He was hit by a burst of fire from the bunker while attending the wounded soldier. In spite of his painful wounds, Specialist Fourth Class LaPointe continued his lifesaving duties until he was again wounded and knocked to the ground. Making strenuous efforts, he moved back again into a shielding position to continue administering first aid. An exploding enemy grenade mortally wounded all three men Specialist Fourth Class LaPointe’s courageous actions at the cost of his life were an inspiration to his comrades. His gallantry and selflessness are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

His Silver Star citation for action in Vietnam reads as follows:

For gallantry in action while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam on April 12, 1969. Specialist LaPointe distinguished himself while serving as a medical aidman on a combat operation in the A Shau Valley, Republic of Vietnam. As Specialist LaPointe’s platoon was moving up a hill to set up a night defensive position, the third squad fell behind because of several heat casualties, but before he reached their position, an artillery round impacted near the position of the main body of the platoon. Realizing that there were probably casualties due to the artillery, he rushed to the aid of his fallen comrades. While moving up the hill, three more rounds impacted between him and the platoon. Never pausing to take cover, he ran headlong through the bursting artillery to the aid of the wounded. He treated seventeen casualties, several of which were severe. He was directly instrumental in saving the life of one man and his quick thinking and expert treatment prevented the possible loss of more lives. Specialist LaPointe’s personal bravery and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Camp Varnum

Location: Narragansett, Rhode Island
Status: Active
Named for: General James Mitchell Varnum
Date of Birth: December 17, 1748
Place of Birth: Dracut, Massachusetts
Date of Death: January 10, 1789
Place of Death: Marietta, Ohio
Place of Burial: Mound Cemetery in Marietta, Ohio

General James Mitchell Varnum was a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger Francis Cooke. He was a brigadier general in the Continental army and commander of volunteers during the American Revolution.

Varnum graduated from Rhode Island College (now, Brown University) in 1769 and was admitted to the bar in 1771. His military career began as the first commander of the Kentish Guards in October 16, 1774. In 1775, he was com- missioned a colonel of the First Regiment of Infantry and commanded the 12th and 9th Continental Regiment. During the Revolutionary War, he fought in the siege of Boston and in battles at Long Island, White Plains, Red Bank, Valley Forge, and Rhode Island.

Varnum supported the establishment of a battalion of black soldiers in Rhode Island, and urged Congress to pass an act giving freedom to all slaves who enlisted in the army. He was elected twice to the Continental Congress, first from 1780 to 1782 and again, from 1786 to 1787.

In June 1788, he was sent to Marietta, Ohio, as a judge of the Northwest Territory. In December 1788, Varnum became ill and soon died of consumption. He was married to Martha Child.

McGraw Kaserne

Location: Munich, Germany
Status: Closed
Named for: Private First Class Francis X. McGraw
Date of Birth: April 29, 1918
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: November 19, 1944
Place of Death: Near Schevenhutte, Germany
Decorations and Honors: Medal of Honor, posthumously; Bronze Star; Purple Heart
Place of Burial: Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial in Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, Plot A, Row 18, Grave 25

Private First Class Francis X. McGraw served with Company H, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

His Medal of Honor citation for action during World War II reads as follows:

He manned a heavy machine-gun emplaced in a foxhole near Schevenhutte, Germany, on November 19, 1944, when the enemy launched a fierce counterattack. Braving an intense hour-long preparatory barrage, he maintained his stand and poured deadly accurate fire into the advancing foot troops until they faltered and came to a halt. The hostile forces brought up a machine gun in an effort to dislodge him but were frustrated when he lifted his gun to an exposed but advantageous position atop a log, courageously stood up in his foxhole and knocked out the enemy weapon. A rocket blasted his gun from position, but he retrieved it and continued firing. He silenced a second machine gun and then made repeated trips over fire-swept terrain to replenish his ammunition supply. Wounded painfully in this dangerous task, he disregarded his injury and hurried back to his post, where his weapon was showered with mud when another rocket barely missed him. In the midst of the battle, with enemy troops taking advantage of his predicament to press forward, he calmly cleaned his gun, put it back into action and drove off the attackers. He continued to fire until his ammunition was expended, when, with a fierce desire to close with the enemy, he picked up a carbine, killed one enemy soldier, wounded another and engaged in a desperate firefight with a third until he was mortally wounded by a burst from a machine pistol. The extraordinary heroism and intrepidity displayed by Private McGraw inspired his comrades to great efforts and was a major factor in repulsing the enemy attack.

Spinelli Barracks

Location: Mannheim, Germany
Status: Active
Named for: Private First Class Dominic Vito Spinelli
Date of Birth: July 23, 1923
Place of Birth: Hamilton, Ohio
Date of Death: April 14, 1945
Place of Death: Willsbach, Germany
Decorations and Honors: Silver Star; Purple Heart; Bronze Star with three oak leaf clusters; World War II Victory Medal, posthumously
Place of Burial: Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Hamilton, Ohio

Private First Class Dominic Vito Spinelli was a medic with the 398th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division, Seventh Army, Medical Detachment.

Spinelli attended Hamilton Boys’ Catholic High School and graduated in 1940 at the age of sixteen. He worked at the local grocery store, played many sports and loved music. He graduated from the University of Dayton in 1943, and had attended the University of Cincinnati for six months before being accepted for medical school at St. Louis University in Missouri.

He joined the service in September 1944 and received basic training at Camp Grant in Rockford, Illinois, and was sent to Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, for advanced training as a surgical technician where he graduated with honors. He participated in battles at Ardennes-Alsace Rhineland and throughout Central Europe.

His Silver Star citation for action during World War II reads as follows:

When the platoon to which Private Spinelli was attached was attacking across an open field, heavy enemy fire isolated five men. When word was received that four of those men were wounded, Private Spinelli left his own sheltered position in an attempt to aid the injured men, despite the enemy fire which raked the ground in front of him. After sniper fire forced him to the ground once, he heroically rose but went only a few feet when he was hit twice by small arms fire and was killed instantly. Private Spinelli gave his life in an effort to rescue his wounded comrades and his gallant action is in keeping with the high traditions of the Medical Department.

Camp Red Cloud

Location: Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea
Status: Active
Named for: Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr.
Date of Birth: July 2, 1924
Place of Birth: Hatfield, Wisconsin
Date of Death: November 5, 1950
Place of Death: Chonghyon-dong, Korea
Decorations and Honors: Medal of Honor, posthumously
Place of Burial: Decorah Cemetery in Black Rivers Falls, Wisconsin

Corporal Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr., served with Company E, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He also served with the U.S. Marines during World War II.

His Medal of Honor citation for action during the Korean War reads as follows:

Corporal Red Cloud, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. From his position on the point of a ridge immediately in front of the company command post he was the first to detect the approach of the Chinese Communist forces and give the alarm as the enemy charged from a brush-covered area less than 100 feet from him. Springing up he delivered devastating pointblank automatic rifle fire into the advancing enemy. His accurate and intense fire checked this assault and gained time for the company to consolidate its defense. With utter fearlessness he maintained his firing position until severely wounded by enemy fire. Refusing assistance he pulled himself to his feet and wrapping his arm around a tree continued his deadly fire again, until he was fatally wounded. This heroic act stopped the enemy from overrunning his company’s position and gained time for reorganization and evacuation of the wounded. Corporal Red Cloud’s dauntless courage and gallant self-sacrifice reflects the highest credit upon himself and upholds the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army. General Omar N. Bradley presented his Medal of Honor award to Red Cloud’s mother at the Pentagon on April 3, 1951.

Camp H. M. Smith

Location: Oahu, Hawaii
Status: Active, Home of the Fleet Marine Force Pacific
Named for: General Holland McTyeire “Howling Mad” Smith
Date of Birth: April 20, 1882
Place of Birth: Seale, Alabama
Date of Death: January 12, 1967
Place of Death: U.S. Naval Hospital in San Diego, California
Decorations and Honors: Distinguished Service Medal with three gold stars; Purple Heart; French Croix de Guerre with palm (Belleau Wood); Meritorious Service Citation; Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal with three bronze stars; Mexican Service Medal; Dominican Campaign Medal; World War I Victory Medal with five sector clasps; Army of Occupation Medal (Germany); American Defense Service Medal with base clasp; American Campaign Medal; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one silver star in lieu of five bronze stars; World War II Victory Medal; Dominican Order of the First Merit; British Order of Commander of the Bath
Date of Retirement: April 1946
Place of Burial: Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California

General Holland Mctyeire Smith, known as “the father of modern U.S. amphibious warfare,” was considered one of America’s top commanders in the Pacific during World War II.

Smith received a bachelor of science degree from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in 1901, obtained his bachelor of law degree from the University of Alabama in 1903, and practiced law in Montgomery, Alabama, before being appointed to the rank of second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on March 20, 1905. Smith served in the Philippines, Nicaragua, Santo Domingo, and with a marine brigade in France during World War I.

Smith commanded all expeditionary troops in the Mariana Islands, including those that recaptured Guam. He headed Task Force 56 at Iwo Jima where he commanded American ground forces at Iwo Jima and the Fleet Marine Forces.

His development of amphibious warfare concepts and his ability to direct the army, navy, and marine amphibious training was a major factor in the successful U.S. landings in both the Atlantic and Pacific. He also was responsible for preparing of U.S. Army and Canadian troops for the Kiska and Attu landings.

Smith led the V Amphibious Corps in the assaults on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands and on Saipan and Tinian in the Marianas on November 20, 1943. He coauthored Coral and Brass (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1949). He was married to Ada Wilkinson.

Camp Johnson

Location: Jacksonville, North Carolina
Status: Active
Named for: Sergeant Major Gilbert Hubert “Hashmark” Johnson
Date of Birth: October 30, 1905
Place of Birth: Mount Hebron, Alabama
Date of Death: August 5, 1972
Place of Death: Jacksonville, North Carolina
Date of Retirement: 1959
Place of Burial: Arlington national Cemetery, Section S2, Site 288

Sergeant Major Gilbert Hubert Johnson was one of the first African Americans to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps who went on to become one of the first black marine drill instructors and the first sergeant major in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Johnson attended Stillman College in 1922, but left college to join the army. He was discharged in October 1929, and reenlisted in the navy four years later and was assigned to the Steward’s Branch, the only branch available to blacks at that time. He served there for nearly ten years before serving aboard the battleship USS Wyoming, during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

When the armed forces were integrated in 1954, Johnson requested transfer from the navy to the Marine Corps where he served the last seventeen years of his thirty-two-year military career. He served as field sergeant in charge of all recruit training at Montford Point in North Carolina. As a member of the 52nd Defense Battalion on Guam in World War II, Johnson requested that black marines be assigned to combat patrols. With approval, he personally led patrols in twenty-five combat missions.

During his assignment in Korea, Johnson served with the 1st Shore Party Battalion; the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines; and, finally, as administrative advisor at the headquarters of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps. He died of a heart attack while addressing an annual meeting of the Montford Point Marine Association.

He was given the nickname “Hashmark” because of the number of stripes he wore on his sleeve representing his many years of service.

Alvin Callender Field

Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Status: Active (now, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base)
Named for: Captain Alvin Andrew Callender
Date of Birth: July 4, 1893
Place of Birth: New Orleans, Louisiana
Date of Death: October 30, 1918
Place of Death: Ghislain, France
Place of Burial: Valenciennes Cemetery (St. Roch) Communal in Nord, France, Grave II. E. 5

Captain Alvin Andrew Callender was a World War I ace pilot, credited with fourteen air victories.

Callender graduated from Tulane University in 1914 with a degree in architecture. He served on the Mexican border with the Louisiana National Guard in 1916. The following year he joined the Royal Flying Corps in Canada and received a commission, and later became a flight instructor. He was assigned to the 32nd Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force where he saw action in German, British, and French offensives. On July 6, 1918, while serving with this unit, he was shot down but was uninjured. He was killed three months later when his S.E.5a aircraft was shot down by members of Jasta 2.

Callender’s descendants published a collection of his letters and photographs titled War in an Open Cockpit: The Wartime Letters of Captain Alvin Andrew Callender, RAF, (1978).

Frederick M. Trapnell Field

Location: Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland
Status: Active
Named for: Vice Admiral Frederick M. Trapnell
Date of Birth: 1903
Place of Birth: Elizabeth, New Jersey
Date of Death: January 1975
Place of Death: San Diego, California
Decorations and Honors: Octave Chanute Award*

Vice Admiral Frederick M. Trapnell was the navy’s first test pilot. Trapnell graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1923 and completed flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and received his pilot wings in 1927. He was assigned to the airship Akron, the navy’s airplane-carrying dirigible. After the crash of the Akron in 1933, he was assigned to her sister ship, Macon, where he was responsible for redesigning and testing the gear and airplane hookup methods.

From 1940 to 1943, Trapnell was assigned to the Flight Test Section in Maryland where he helped develop and test modifications on two high-performance navy fighters, one being the Corsair that was used during the war.

In early 1943, Trapnell was assigned to the Army Air Force’s new secret test base at Muroc Dry Lake, California, where he flew and evaluated the Bell XP-59A. He test-flew the Grumman F9F Panther, McDonnell F2H Banshee, and the North American Fury. He helped establish a formalized course of instruction for test pilots and formed the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School. He took command of the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea in 1950 where he participated in the first deployment of jet fighters aboard ship.

* The Octave Chanute Award, given in 1949, was from the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences for the pilot who had contributed most to aviation in that year.