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Coles, William John, CMSgt.
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Contact Info
Home Town Etna, Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Last Address Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
Date of Passing Dec 17, 1997
Location of Interment Blanding City Cemetery - Blanding, Utah
Sioux Falls, SD - Radio Operator & Mechanic Jul-Dec 1943
Yuma AAF, Yuma, AZ - 306th SEFTG (Aerial Gunnery) - Dec 1943-Feb 1944
Rapid City, SD - R.T.U. - Feb-May 1944
Kimbolton RAF, England - APO 557, 524th Bombardment Squadron [Jul 1944]; 379th Bombardment Group (H) - Aug 1944-Jan 1945
Laredo AAF, Laredo, TX - Central School for Flexible Gunnery; 524th Bombardment Squadron - Mar-Sep 1945
USAF Reserve - 18 Jan 1949-1 Apr 1952 [Called to Active Duty - 11 Feb 1951]
Lowry AFB, Denver, CO - 3415th Technical Training Wing; 3415th Aircraft Gunnery Group; 3435th Training Squadron (NCOIC B-29 Gunnery Training; Academic Section) - Apr 1951 to Dec 1953 (TDY - NE: Offutt AFB; TX: Kelly AFB, Matagorda Island, Port O'Connor)
Donaldson AFB, Greenville, SC - Fourth Aerial Port Operations Squadron, (TAC) - Jan 1954-May 1954 (TDY - SC: Charleston AFB)
Chanute AFB, Rantoul, IL - 3499th Mobile Training Wing; 3493rd Field Training Squadron; 3497th Mobile Training Squadron - Jun 1957-Aug 1957 (TDY - OR: Portland; WA: Seattle)
Sewart AFB, Smyrna, TN - [Detached from Chanute] 304th Field Training Detachment; C130-2 Mobile Training Detachment; 2nd Aerial Port Sq - Aug 1957-Aug 1958 (TDY - CA: McClellan AFB; CO: Lowry AFB; GA: Robins AFB; KY: Campbell AFB; NC: Pope AFB, Seymour-Johnson AFB; TX: Foster AFB; UT: Hill AFB; WA: Larson AFB)
MacDill AFB, Tampa, FL - [Detached from Chanute] 311 Field Training Detachment; 306th Air Refueling Sq (SAC) - Aug 1958-Jul 1959 (TDY - GA: Hunter AFB)
Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, TX - Sheppard Technical Training Center (ATC) - 3764th School Squadron; 3772nd Sq - Jul 1959-Oct 1961 (TDY - AZ: Douglas, Phoenix; CA: Beale AFB, Castle AFB, Long Beach AFB, March AFB, McClellan AFB, Ontario International Airport, Travis AFB; FL: McCoy AFB, Tyndall AFB; GA: Hunter AFB, Moody AFB; HI: Hickam AFB; IL: Chanute AFB, O'Hare International, Scott AFB; IN: Bunker Hill AFB; KS: McConnell AFB; MI: Kinchloe AFB, MO: Malden AB, Richards-Gebaur AFB; NC: Douglas Municipal Airport, Pope AFB; NE: Lincoln AFB; NM: Kirtland AFB; NV: Nellis AFB; SC: Charleston AFB, Donaldson AFB; TX: Amarillo AFB, Carswell AFB, Connally AFB, Dyess AFB, Ellington AFB, Kelly AFB, Randolph AFB, Reese AFB; UT: Hill AFB, Salt Lake City; VA: Langley AFB; WA: McChord AFB, Paine AFB, SEA-TAC International Airport; WI: Truax Field *** Japan: Tachikawa AB; Midway Island; Okinawa: Kadena AB; Wake Island).
Chateauroux AS, France - APO 10, 1616th Support Squadron (MATS) - Nov 1961-Jul 1962 (TDY - Germany: Rhein- Main; Evreux-Fauville AB, France - APO 253, 5th Aerial Port Squadron, 322nd Air Division; 317 Combat Support Group - Jul 1962-Aug 1963 (TDY - DC: Washington; TX: Kelly AFB, Sheppard AFB *** France: Chateauroux AS; Germany: Berlin, Wiesbaden; India: Palam AF [New Delhi]; Italy: Aviano; Libya; Pakistan; Saudi Arabia; Turkey: Adana).
Sheppard AFB, Wichita Falls, TX - 3769th School Squadron; 3750th Technical School; 3773rd School Squadron; 3782nd Instructors Squadron (ATC) - Aug 1963-Apr 1971 (TDY - AZ: Davis-Monthan, Williams AFB; CA: Alameda NAS, Beale AFB, George AFB, Hamilton AFB, Los Alamitos NAS, Los Angeles International, Mather AFB, McClellan AFB, Norton AFB, Ontario International Airport, Travis AFB; CO: Buckley ANG; CT: Bradley Field; DE: Dover AFB; FL: Homestead AFB, Pensacola NAS; GA: Hunter AFB, Moody AFB, Robins AFB, Turner AFB; HI: Hickam AFB; ID: Mountain Home; IL: Chanute AFB; IN: Grissom AFB; KS: Boeing-Wichita; MA: Logan Airport - Boston; MD: Andrews AFB; ME: Loring AFB; MS: Keesler AFB; ND: Minot AFB; NE: Offutt AFB; NJ: Atlantic City Airport, McGuire AFB; NM: Cannon AFB, Kirtland AFB; NV: Stead AFB; NY: New York NAS, Niagara Falls Municipal Airport, Stewart AFB; OH: Clinton Co. AFB, Lockbourne AFB, Patterson AFB; OK: Tinker AFB; SC: Charleston AFB, Shaw AFB; TX: Bergstrom AFB, Carswell AFB, Kelly AFB, Randolph AFB, Reese AFB, Webb AFB; UT: Hill AFB; VA: Langley AFB; WA: McChord AFB *** Japan: Yokota AB; Philippines: Clark AB; Vietnam: DaNang AB; Wake Island).
Little Rock AFB, Jacksonville, AR - 64th Tactical Airlift Training Wing; 61st Tactical Airlift Squadron (TAC) - Apr 1971-Aug 1971.
Spouse: Margaret Arminta (Peggy) Shea
Parents: William John Coles & Irene Barbara Schneider (Snyder)
Vietnam War/Defense Campaign (1965)
From Month/Year
March / 1965
To Month/Year
December / 1965
Description This period was from March 2, 1965-January 30, 1966.
On June 29. I966. the USAF bombed petroleum storage and distribution facilities for the first time in the immediate vicinity of Hanoi and Haiphong, after political leaders authorized limited and specific strikes within the buffer zones for these cities. Gen. William W. Momyer replaced General Moore as Seventh Air Force Commander on July l. The United States expanded the Rotuwo Tittmou campaign as of July 9 to include petroleum targets in the northeast and rail lines and highways between China and Hanoi. although the buffer zone on the border limited targets. American aircraft also flew armed reconnaissance over North Vietnam.
On July 30. 1966. the USAF bombed targets in the dernilitariaed zone (DMZ) to counter the build-up of North Vietnamese forces there. By September the U.S. air campaign against North Vietnam had destroyed or damaged two-thirds of the enemy's petroleum storage capacity. several thousand trucks and watercraft. hundreds of rail cars and bridges. and numerous ammunition and supply storage areas. Beginning on February 14. I967. USAF aircraft hit additional strategic targets in North Vietnam, knocking out major power plants. and railyard repair facilities. But these results had little effect on the enemy's ability to carry on the war. because the country possessed only a small industrial base and imported most of its military materiel. In the face of extensive air attacks. North Vietnam further strengthened it's air defenses. By January 1967, the United States had lost 45 aircraft within 2 years. Anti-aircraft guns and SAMs accounted for most of the losses. but MiGs continued to challenge U.S. air strikes.
On January 2 the Seventh Air Force enticed a large MiG-2| force over North Vietnam into battle against F-4s. The USAF pilots destroyed 7 MiGs within 12 minutes without a loss. Four days later. On January 6. the Seventh destroyed 2 more MiGs. and the North Vietnamese temporarily abandoned aerial combat to regroup and retrain. In South Vietnam Allied forces continued search and destroy operations. blunting new Viet Cong and North Vietnamese offensives. Between July 14 and August 4, 1966. U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese troops battled North Vietnam Army forces near Quang Tri. 20 miles south of the DMZ. Later. between October I5 and November 26. the Allies engaged in a major battle with Viet Cong and NVA forces northwest of Tay Ninh. near the Cambodian border. 60 miles northwest of Saigon. Enemy resistance was light at first. but on November 4. as ARVN and U.S. troops approached storage areas, the Viet Cong and NVA counterattaclted. The Allies responded by airlifting more troops. including elements of the U.S. Army’s 1st. 4th, and 25th Infantry Divisions. and the l73rd Airborne Brigade. The USAF provided close air suppon. and between November 8 and 25. B-52s bombed targets in the area. The Allies drove the enemy from the region temporarily. seizing weapons. ammunition. food. and other supplies that the Communist forces left behind.
The next year. between Febmary and May I967, U.S. Army units joined ARVN forces to retum to Tay Ninh Province, about $0 miles north of Saigon and 15 miles northeast of Tay Ninh. Seventh Air Force C-l30s drtmped American paratroopers near the Cambodian border to cut off the Viet Cong retreat. The airlifters also flew reinforcements and supplies to the ground troops during this operation. With the help of forward air controllers flying O-1s. Air Force F-I00 and F-4 pilots provided close air support. and AC-47 gunship crews illuminated targets and conducted air strikes at night. Again, the enemy withdrew into Cambodia. leaving behind weapons. supplies. and ammunition.
In the panhandle of Laos, the USAF pounded enemy forces on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. while in northem Laos U.S. pilots supported Allied forces under attack. By August 1966 Laotian troops fighting Pathet Lao insurgents had advanced. with the aid of U.S. close air support. to Nam Bac. only 45 miles west of the North Vietnamese border and about 55 miles northeast of Luang Prabang. an ancient city on the Mekong River some 130 miles north of Vientiane. The Laotian gains were short lived, however, and by February 2. I967. the insurgents had regained lost territory and were in a position to attack the airfield at Luang Prabang.
