Billy Black was born on 5 November 1923, and spent his infancy in Laura, Oklahoma. In the late 1920s, the Black family – parents Frank and Lettie, plus Billy’s older siblings John, Frank Junior, Orville, and Rosemary – relocated to Arizona. Frank Senior worked in the Gila County copper mines while the children went to school.

In the late 1930s, Frank was promoted to shift boss in a lead mine, and the family relocated to Tiger, a remote mining community in Pinal County. Some of the boys followed their father into the business, and Billy may have ventured underground himself. In July 1942, when he registered for Selective Service, he was listed as “unemployed.”

Billy managed to travel from Arizona to California in the late summer of 1942; while he registered for the draft in Tiger, he enlisted in the Marine Corps from Los Angeles on 18 September. He trained at MCRD San Diego and was selected for aviation duty upon completing boot camp. After a few weeks of duty with a service squadron in San Diego, Private Black was deployed overseas to the Solomon Islands. In the spring of 1943, he joined VMSB-143 as an ordnance man and supported strike missions flown from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal.

As the year went on, Black expanded his skill set. He was placed on flight status, qualified as a radioman, and was promoted to Private First Class all while serving in the South Pacific. On 31 May 1943, the -143 was re-designated as a torpedo bomber outfit and received TBF Avenger planes. Being of slight stature, PFC Black was able to fit himself into the Avenger’s cramped gun turret, and this became his primary function on a crew.

In mid-October 1943, PFC Black joined the forward echelon of VMTB-143 at Munda Airfield. He was soon flying missions over the northern Solomon Islands. His TBF Avenger crew consisted of pilot 1Lt. John W. Tunnell  and Sgt. Felix Gabaccia on the radio.

On 4 November 1943, VMTB-143 participated in a strike against Kahili airfield on the island of Bougainville. Tunnell, Gabaccia, and Black were aboard TBF-1 #24195, which bore squadron number 15.

Over the target, #15 was seen to smoke and catch fire. Other aviators watched as Tunnell yanked the big plane out of its dive, straining to gain a few thousand feet of altitude. Three small figures jumped from the Avenger, and three parachutes were seen to open before the plane slammed into the water and disappeared.

Tunnell, Gabaccia, and Black were reported as missing in action and carried as such until the war ended. Repeated searches failed to uncover any clues as to their ultimate fates, and they were declared dead on 11 January 1946.

PFC Billy Black received a posthumous Air Medal for his service in the South Pacific.

“TBF #15 (piloted by 1st Lt. John W. Tunnell, with crew consisting of Sgt. Felix Gabbacia, radioman, and PFC Billy M. Black, gunner, all of VMTB-143) smoked and caught fire while in its dive over Kahili Strip. The plane was pulled up to 2000/3000 feet and three men were seen to bail out. Thereafter the plane fluttered and fell into the sea three miles SW of Kahili Strip. The plane was probably hit by AA.”
– VMTB-143, Combat Tour 10/18/1943 to 11/30/1943, Mission Report for 4 November 1943.

CENOTAPHS
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial