World War II Honoree

Ferris Robert 'Rudy' Gillen

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Muncie, Illinois

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

RANK: CORPORAL. HE WAS A UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS AERIAL GUNNER, WHO FLEW IN THE MARINE PBJ-1 BOMBER (A VARIANT OF THE MITCHELL B-25 BOMBER) IN THE PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS. THIS MARINE AVIATOR EXPERIENCED COMBAT, WHILE ASSIGNED TO THE MARINE BOMBING SQUADRON FOUR-THIRTEEN ‘VMB-413’, NICKNAMED ‘THE FLYING NIGHTMARES’, MARINE AIR GROUP-SIXTY ONE, THIRD MARINE AIRCRAFT WING. HIS SQUADRON WAS BASED AT ESPIRITU SANTO, LOCATED IN THE NATION OF VANUATU. ON FRIDAY, MAY 5, 1944 HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION WHEN HIS BOMBER WAS SHOT DOWN BY ENEMY ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE WHILE FLYING A BOMBING MISSION AGAINST THE JAPANESE TOBERA AIRDROME NEAR RABAUL, NEW BRITAIN. ALL CREW MEMBERS DIED UPON IMPACT, WHEN THE BOMBER CRASHED NEAR THE AIRFIELD AND WERE BURIED BY THE JAPANESE. IN THE EARLY POSTWAR ERA, HIS REMAINS WERE RECOVERED AND RETURNED TO HIS COUNTRY AND FAMILY WITH MILITARY HONORS. INTERMENT WAS IN THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY ON FEBRUARY 21, 1950. HE IS ALSO MEMORIALIZED WITH A MEMORIAL HEADSTONE IN THE ALLHANDS CEMETERY, DANVILLE, ILLINOIS.