William Wolfe Wileman

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William Wolfe Wileman, born on 4 May 1917 in Ventura County, California, graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1940 and enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on 12 February 1941 as a seaman second class. After basic training at Oakland, California, he transferred to the Pensacola Naval Air Station for aviation training on 3 April and, the following day, received his appointment as an aviation cadet. He finished the basic course at Pensacola in August and moved to the Miami Naval Air Station on the 31st for advanced training. His flight instruction ended on 4 November; and, on the 5th, Wileman was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve.

[edit] Winning the Navy Cross

The Navy Directory for 1942 suggests that Ens. Wileman was assigned to Fighting Squadron (VF) 6 on board Enterprise. While he may have served briefly with that unit and on board that ship, he was definitely a member of VF-2 on board Yorktown by the time of the Battle of the Coral Sea early in May 1942. During that action in the evening of 7 May, Ens. Wileman earned the Navy Cross for shooting down at least one, and perhaps two, Japanese fighters.

Later, he transferred to VF-5 and saw service at various locations in the southwestern Pacific. At the time of his death on 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. Further details of Ens. Wileman's death are unavailable, but he was presumed dead as a result of enemy action while defending his base from Japanese air raids.