World War II Honoree
World War II Veteran
John Irvin Elliott
Branch of Service
U.S. Army Air Force
Hometown
Ypsilanti, North Dakota
Honored By
Robert S. Cox
ENTERED MILITARY SERVICE, APPLIED, AND WAS SELECTED FOR AIRCREW TRAINING IN THE AVIATION CADET PROGRAM AS A PILOT. UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A BASIC MILITARY COURSE, PREFLIGHT NON-FLYING CIVILIAN SCHOOLING, PRIMARY, BASIC, AND ADVANCED FLYING SCHOOLS, HE WAS EARMARKED FOR FOLLOW-ON HEAVY BOMBARDMENT AIRCRAFT TRAINING, AWARDED HIS SILVER PILOT WINGS AND COMMISSIONED A SECOND LIEUTENANT. NEXT, ASSIGNED FOR TRANSITION FLYING TRAINING IN THE AIRCRAFT HE WOULD FLY IN COMBAT. SERVED AS A B-24 'LIBERATOR' HEAVY BOMBER PILOT OVERSEAS IN THE ASIATIC-PACIFIC THEATER, STATIONED AT WHEELER ARMY AIR FIELD ON OAHU ISLAND, IN THE U.S. TERRITORY OF HAWAII WITH THE 7TH AIR FORCE DURING THE WAR. HIS DUTY ASSIGNMENT WAS ESTABLISHED AS THE 7TH AIR FORCE (7TH AF) ON FEBRUARY 5, 1942. ITS AREA OF OPERATIONS WAS THE CENTRAL PACIFIC AREA, NORTH OF THE EQUATOR. IT WAS THE AERIAL STRIKE FORCE ACROSS THE CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN TO JAPAN. HIS LONG RANGE HEAVY BOMBER ATTACKS SOFTENED UP STRATEGIC ISLANDS FOR AMPHIBIOUS INVASION. MEDIUM BOMBERS AND FIGHTER AIRCRAFT ATTACKED JAPANESE PERIMETER DEFENSES. AIR ACTION INVOLVED PINPOINT ATTACKS AND SOME OF THE LONGEST ARMY AIR FORCES OPERATIONAL OVERWATER FLIGHTS. IN EARLY 1943, LONG RANGE BOMBERS STRUCK JAPANESE BASES AT TARAWA IN THE GILBERT ISLANDS, IN THE WEST CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN AREA. IT WAS NOT UNTIL NOVEMBER, 1943, AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION OF ADVANCED BASES FAR OUT IN THE CENTRAL PACIFIC, THAT SYSTEMATIC 7TH AF OPERATIONS IN THE GILBERT ISLANDS COULD BE CONDUCTED. ADVANCED BASE CONSTRUCTION WAS THE KEY TO LONG RANGE HEAVY AIR ATTACKS AGAINST THE MARSHALL ISLANDS IN THE NORTH WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN AREA FROM LATE NOVEMBER, 1943-JANUARY, 1944, AND PERMITTED DEEPER PENETRATION INTO JAPANESE DEFENSES. AWARDED THE ARMY PILOT BADGE, AIR MEDAL, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, ASIATIC-PACIFIC CAMPAIGN MEDAL, AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL. HONORABLY DISCHARGED AND ISSUED THE HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON.