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NAME Gerald Miller Pickerel |
NICKNAME Jerry |
SERVICE NUMBER O-10629 |
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| UNIT VMF-215 Pilot |
HOME OF RECORD 2385 Monterey Road San Marino, CA |
NEXT OF KIN Wife, Mrs. Harriet Pickerel |
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| DATE OF BIRTH June 9, 1920 at Rocky, OK |
ENTERED SERVICE May 17, 1939 (USMC Reserve) June 3, 1942 (commissioned) |
DATE OF LOSS July 26, 1943 |
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| REGION Solomon Islands |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Simbo Island |
CASUALTY TYPE Killed In Action |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS Captain Gerald M. “Jerry” Pickerel was a pilot assigned to VMF-215, a Marine fighter squadron based at Guadalcanal in the summer of 1943. He was a division leader in charge of a four-plane formation. On 26 July, VMF-215 was given a mission to escort a flight of B-24 bombers to strike Kahili. Twenty Corsairs took off at 0700 hours, but mechanical problems plagued the mission. One of Captain Pickerel’s pilots returned shortly after takeoff, reporting engine trouble. At 1000, another returned with a grim report: Pickerel’s plane was seen swaying in the air before turning over and diving nearly 22,000 feet straight into the water near Simbo Island in the western Solomons. The last man aloft, 1Lt. Donald B. Moore, was shot down over Kolombangara. Anoxemia, probably due to a faulty oxygen system, was blamed for Captain Pickerel’s crash. He was declared dead the day of the mission; no remains were ever recovered. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Captain |
STATUS OF REMAINS Lost at sea. |
MEMORIALS Manila American Cemetery |
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