Page 11 - Gold Star Sons of Georgetown Prep

1ST LT. HENRY BECHMAN “HANK” COAKLEY ’37
A P-38 Lightning fighter plane
COURTESTY, ACEPILOTS.COM
festivities on campus in 1936. His “inimitable hoofing,” reported The Little Hoya, “almost proved too much for the platform.” Apropos of “hoofing,” Hank loved dancing, and he and several of his buddies formed a committee that revived the tradition of Prep hosting at least two tea dances (featuring ball room dancing) on Saturday afternoons from 4:00 P.
M. to 7:00 P. M. during the school year. Hank and friends also attended tea dances sponsored by area schools.
After graduating from Prep, Hank
attended Georgetown University. While
there, he met Elizabeth Kelly, a student
at nearby Trinity College and his future
wife. The two dated throughout their time in college and shared a love of dancing. Friends dubbed them “Fred” and “Ginger,” referring to the iconic dance partners/movie stars who made 10 films together.
After college, Hank went to work for his father at Automatic Sprinkler while Elizabeth studied journalism at Columbia University. His draft registration card of 1940 described him as 6’31⁄2” tall, 180 lbs., with blue eyes and brown hair. On September 27, 1941, Hank, who yearned to become a “fly boy,” enlisted in the US Army Air Force. On July 18, 1942, having already attained a commission as a 2nd Lt. and
well on his way to earning his wings as a pilot, Hank and Elizabeth married in a small chapel on a military base in Texas.
Hank proved himself an excellent pilot serving as a squadron commander and a group operations officer at an advanced flight school at Altus Army Airfield in Altus, Oklahoma. By the
time that he joined the Air Services Command (ASC) headquarters staff at Patterson Field in Dayton, Ohio, on June 3, 1943, 1st Lt. Coakley had logged over 1,000 hours of flying time, of which more than 700 had been spent instructing pilots. The ASC was tasked with moving supplies, equipment, and personnel
Hank’s administrative as well as flying skills impressed Brig. General E. E. Adler, commander of the ASC, who appointed him as his personal aide. Adler later said that he had “rarely met an officer so enthusiastic about flying.” He also might have added “and about fighting,” because Hank longed for combat overseas. He spent his spare hours honing his flying skills in fighter planes and pressed Adler for reassignment to a war theater. By early August, 1943, Adler was about to release Hank for combat duty with General Claire L. Chennault’s “Flying Tigers” in the Burma-China theater.
CONTINUED
Coakley at a Prep event
GOLD STAR SONS OF GEORGETOWN PREP | winter 2021 11