Flight Officer Jackie Coogan

Published May 04, 2015

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DAYTON, Ohio -- Flight Officer Jackie Coogan's jacket is on display with the Celebrities in Uniform exhibit in the World War II Gallery at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Flight Officer Jackie Coogan records a flight time after a hop in an L-2 liaison aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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In addition to being a glider pilot, Flight Officer Jackie Coogan was responsible for the "precious nylon tow ropes" that connected the gliders to tow planes. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Flight Officer Jackie Coogan in India with glider pilot wings and China-Burma-India shoulder patch. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Members of the 1st Air Commando Group in India just before taking off on the glider invasion of Burma. Jackie Coogan is kneeling at right with gun on left arm. In rear is a CG-4A glider. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Jackie Coogan enlisted in the Army on March 4, 1941. When the U.S. entered World War II as a result of the Pearl Harbor attack, Coogan requested transfer to the AAF as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. He was sent to glider school at Lubbock, Texas, and Twentynine Palms, Calif. Upon graduation, he was made a Flight Officer. He then volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group being formed by the famous Col. Phil Cochran. In December 1943, the unit was sent to India where, using Waco CG-4A gliders, it airlifted crack British troops under Gen. Orde Wingate during the night aerial invasion of Burma (March 5, 1944), landing them in a small jungle clearing 100 miles behind Japanese lines. Coogan returned to the United States in May 1944 and was discharged in December. 1945.

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Flight Officer Jackie Coogan

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