WW2 Fallen - Medal of Honor hero and B-25 pilot Ralph Cheli

Major Ralph Cheli earned the Medal of Honor while he was the commanding officer of the 405th Bombardment Squadron. His final mission is depicted in a painting by Steve Ferguson.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19379/ralph-cheli
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Ralph Cheli never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

He was born on October 29, 1919 in San Francisco, California. His parents Robert and Julia (who lived to age 100) were born in Italy and California, respectively. His father worked as a cafe musician. His parents divorced before 1930 after which Ralph lived with his mother and her parents. Julia worked as a dressmaking designer. Ralph was an only child. By 1940 Ralph was attending Lehigh University. At some point he married Geraldine Reilly and they had a son born in 1942.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in February 1940. He was trained to be a B-17 pilot. In the spring of 1942 he flew anti-submarine patrols in the Caribbean. By June 1942 he was promoted to captain and became the Operations Officer for the 405th Bombardment Squadron, 38th Bombardment Group which was equipped with B-25 Mitchells. It was sent to operate out of Australia and later New Guinea. In January 1943 he was placed in command of the 405th BS and in March 1943 he was promoted to major.

On August 16, 1943, Major Cheli led a bombing mission to hit Japanese airfields in the Wewak area. Major Cheli's plane was hit before he reached his target, but rather than drop out of formation to seek safety, he kept his plane in formation to lead the attack in. Other crews saw his plane crash into the sea. It was his 39th combat mission.

In October 1943, Major Cheli, who was missing in action, was awarded the Medal of Honor. He also earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. His Medal of Honor citation reads as follows.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy. 

While Maj. Cheli was leading his squadron in a dive to attack the heavily defended Dagua Airdrome, intercepting enemy aircraft centered their fire on his plane, causing it to burst into flames while still 2 miles from the objective. His speed would have enabled him to gain necessary altitude to parachute to safety, but this action would have resulted in his formation becoming disorganized and exposed to the enemy. Although a crash was inevitable, he courageously elected to continue leading the attack in his blazing plane. From a minimum altitude, the squadron made a devastating bombing and strafing attack on the target. The mission completed, Maj. Cheli instructed his wingman to lead the formation and crashed into the sea.

Major Cheli had actually survived his plane crash and became a POW of the Japanese. His wife was informed of his POW status in February 1944. He was taken to Rabaul where he was executed on March 6, 1944. 

He is buried in a mass grave of recovered POW remains at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, Missouri. I don't know what happened to his widow or son.

Thank you Major Cheli for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Ralph.

Navy Cross hero William Van Dyke, 5th Marine Division, was born exactly one year earlier than Ralph Cheli. You can read about William 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.

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WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

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