Name William Wileman Role Seaman | Died 1942 | |
Education University of California, Berkeley | ||
William Wolfe Wileman, born 4 May 1917 in Ventura County, California, United States, graduated from University of California at Berkeley in 1940 then enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve, on 12 February 1941, as a seaman second class. After basic training at Oakland, California, he transferred 3 April to the Pensacola Naval Air Station for aviation training; the following day, he received appointment as an aviation cadet. Finishing the basic course at Pensacola in August, Cadet Wileman moved, on the 31st, to the Miami Naval Air Station for advanced training. His flight instruction ended 4 November; on the 5th, Wileman was commissioned ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.
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Winning the Navy Cross
The Navy Directory for 1942 suggests Ens. Wileman was assigned to Fighting Squadron (VF) 6 on board Enterprise. Ensign Wileman may have served briefly with that unit on board that ship; he definitely served as a member of VF-2 on board Yorktown by the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942. During fighting action, the evening of 7 May, Ens. Wileman earned the Navy Cross for shooting down at least one, and perhaps two, Japanese fighters.
Later, Ensign Wileman transferred to VF-5 then saw service at various locations in the southwestern Pacific. At the time of his death, 13 September 1942, Ens. Wileman was based ashore on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands, with a portion of VF-5 assigned to the "Cactus Air Force" at Henderson Field.
On the afternoon of September 13, 1942 radar reported Japanese bombers on the way to bomb the American Marines. Ensign Wileman flew his Wildcat along with a dozen American pilots to intercept 27 bombers. His division made passes at the bombers a couple of times but didn't claim any kills. Japanese Zeros protecting the bombers heavily damaged Wileman's plane. While he was attempting an emergency landing on Henderson Field, his F4F crashed and burst into flames. He was critically wounded when pulled from the plane and died later that day.
USS Wileman Named in His Honor
The USS Wileman (DE-22) was named in Ensign Wileman's honor on 19 February 1943.