John B. Correll

	NAME John Blake Correll	NICKNAME —	SERVICE NUMBER O-12741
	UNIT VMF-211 Pilot	HOME OF RECORD 213 17th Street, Canton, OH	NEXT OF KIN Mother, Mrs. E. B. Correll
	DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1918 in Joplin, MO	ENTERED SERVICE November 1, 1941 (Navy Reserve) August 21, 1942 (commission)	DATE OF LOSS April 7, 1943
	REGION Central Pacific	CAMPAIGN / AREA Palmyra Atoll	CASUALTY TYPE Non-battle death
CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS First Lieutenant John B. Correll was a pilot assigned to VMF-211, a Marine fighter squadron stationed at Palmyra Island. On 7 April 1943, Lt. Correll was piloting an F4F-4 (BuNo 02060) which went down at sea some eight miles south of Palmyra Island. Although initially listed as missing in action, it was determined that he lost his life in the incident. Memorial services were held on Palmyra, but Lt. Correll’s body was never recovered.
INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS —	LAST KNOWN RANK First Lieutenant	STATUS OF REMAINS Lost at sea	MEMORIALS Honolulu Memorial

Biography:
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Correll was tempestuous and argumentative, but fun to be around. One day, a few months after we arrived at Palmyra, he was out with three other planes on one of our operational missions. The other three Wildcats returned without incident, but Correll never returned.

I was a member of the board of inquiry that investigated his disappearance. For several days, we discussed the meager evidence available, but I, personally, was never satisfied that we knew what happend. There were some official conclusions drawn, I am sure, but they were not available to most of us. We had a brief service for him out at the junction of the two runways. The weather was rainy, windy, and gloomy. They played Chopin’s “Funeral March” on a couple of trumpets – mournful sounds that I can still hear today.

Captain Wallace B. Thompson, “Marine Fighter Pilot at the Jugular of the Solomons.”