Jackie Coogan - US Army 1941-1945

Jackie Coogan (Actor)
(John Leslie Coogan)
b. 26 Oct 1914 –
d. 1 Mar 1984
US Army Air Corps, 1^st Air Commando Group
(World War II, Flight Officer) 

Coogan enlisted in the Army March of 1941. After Pearl Harbor, he requested transfer to the Air Corps as a glider pilot because of his civilian flying experience. After graduating from Glider School, he was made a Flight Officer and volunteered for hazardous duty with the 1st Air Commando Group. In Dec. 1943, his unit was sent to India. During the night aerial invasion of Burma on Mar. 5, 1944, using CG-4A gliders, the unit airlifted crack British troops, the Chindits (under Gen. Orde Wingate), landing them in a small jungle clearing 100 miles behind Japanese lines.