Gerald L. Coffee

Jerry Coffee graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor's degree in Advertising Art, and then enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on August 14, 1957. He entered Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School on November 23, 1957, and was commissioned an Ensign on March 28, 1958. Lieutenant Coffee was designated a Naval Aviator on August 22, 1959, at NAAS Kingsville, Texas, and then completed F8U (later redesignated F-8) Crusader Replacement Pilot Training with VF-174 at NAS Cecil Field, Florida, in February 1960. His first assignment was as an RF-8 pilot with VFP-62 at NAS Cecil Field from February 1960 to February 1963, and during this time he flew photographic reconnaissance missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Lieutenant Coffee next completed RA-5C Vigilante Replacement Air Group training with VAH-3 at NAS Sanford, Florida, and then continued on with VAH-3 (later redesignated RVAH-3) as an instructor pilot from March 1963 to December 1965. His next assignment was as an RA-5C pilot with RVAH-13 flying off the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) from December 1965 until he was forced to eject over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on February 3, 1966.