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| PFC Barlow Coon served with Merrill's Marauders when they captured the Myitkyina airfield https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139361571/barlow-gaston-coon https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/450852612672037791/?lp=true |
Barlow Gaston Coon never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on May 21, 1918 in New York. His parents Edwin and Sarah were also both born in New York. His father worked as a fruit farmer. Barlow had two older brothers, three older sisters, four younger brothers (three became army veterans), and three younger sisters. His mother died in 1940. By 1940 Barlow had completed eight years of schooling. He had moved out and was living as a hired hand not too far from home.
He was drafted into the army on April 1, 1942. A year later he was sent to India while serving in the Army Corps of Engineers. He was with Merrill's Marauders and the Chinese 22nd Division in Burma when, after a thousand mile march, they attacked and captured the airfield outside of Myitkyina on May 17, 1944. The next day, while driving the commanding officer on a reconnaissance mission, the enemy ambushed them. Despite being shot, PFC Coon drove his vehicle out of harm's way, losing blood that left him unconscious and then dead. Everyone else in the vehicle returned unharmed. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for this heroism.
His grave is at Lakeview Cemetery, Penn Yan, New York.
Last year on this date I profiled Howard Van Hoose, 3rd Armored Division. You can read about Howard here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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