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Service Details |
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Personal Details
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Home State
New York | |
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Year of Birth
1919 |
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This Military Service Page was created/owned by
SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
Sterling, Gordon Herbert, Jr., 2nd Lt.
If you knew or served with this Airman and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
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Casualty Info
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Home Town
Ilion/Syracuse, New York |
Last Address
Wheeler Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii
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Casualty Date
Dec 07, 1941 |
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Cause
Hostile, Died while Missing |
Reason
Air Loss, Crash - Sea |
Location
Hawaii |
Conflict
World War II |
Location of Interment
Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii |
Wall/Plot Coordinates
Court 5 |
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Last Known Activity
2nd Lt. Gordon Sterling was stationed at Wheeler AB with the 46th Pursuit Squadron, 15th Pursuit Group, and was the assistant flight engineer for the squadron, only recently passing his flight tests.
When he boarded the P-36, his words were, "Give this to my mother! I'm not coming back!" as he gave his watch to the crew chief. Shortly, he was on one Zero's tail when he was jumped by a Zero group leader, Fujita, who in turn was being fired upon by a P-36 flown by the squadron commander, 1st Lt. Lewis Sanders.
When the attack on the Island began, he joined a small group of aircraft to confront the Japanese over Kaneohe. He was shot down off Kaneohe Bay in the midst of a dog-fight with a Japanese aircraft. His aircraft received multiple bullets, caught fire, and crashed into Kaneohe Bay. He was credited with shooting down the Zero he was pursuing.
Neither he nor his aircraft were ever found.
A memorial was placed in Arlington National Cemetery in his honor.
He had attended and graduated from the Advanced Flying School, Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama in May 1941.
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Comments/Citation
Sources:
https://aad.archives.gov/aad/record-detail.jsp?dt=893&mtch=1&cat=WR26&tf=F&q=Gordon+H+Sterling&bc=sl&rpp=10&pg=1&rid=366379
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ghsterlingjr.htm
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56132608/gordon-h-sterling
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/127157924/gordon-h-sterling
https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/the-few-who-got-up/
http://aviation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/A-Handful-of-Pilots.pdf
http://thepastpresented.com/index.php/tag/samuel-w-bishop/
https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=25191
http://www.cieldegloire.com/fg_021.php
https://www.abmc.gov/node/527691
https://www.ancestry.com
Book: Pearl Harbor, from Infamy to Greatness, by Craig Nelson, Scribner, 2016, p310.
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