Page 108 - Lubbock Senior Link Magazine Fall 2019- Online Magazine

Carl Gilly
arl Lee “Cobb” Gilly’s
active duty in the Navy
Cbegan on October 16,
1942. He joined the Navy
because he “didn’t want to
go into the Army as a foot
soldier.” He was probably
thinking he wouldn’t see any
combat, but he was wrong.
Carl was born in Floyd
County (Floydada), Texas on
September 16, 1921 to Vince
and Ann Gilly. Vince was a
cotton and wheat farmer, and
Cobb learned to work on the
farm at an early age. Vince had
bought the farm for $1 per acre,
and it still remains in Gilly
hands 118 years later. He had
two brothers and two sisters.
His older brother also served in
WWII in the army.
After his induction into
the Navy, Cobb was sent
to Farragut Naval Training
Station. Named for famed
Navy Civil War hero, David
108 Lubbock Senior Link
Cobb’s War
by Larry A. Williams
Veterans Liaison Co-Chair
Texas South Plains Honor Flight
Farragut, the nation’s first
rear admiral, vice admiral and
admiral in the U.S. Navy, the
station was at the foot of the
Coeur d’Alene Mountains in
Northern Idaho. Farragut was
the second largest training
center in the world, second
only to the Naval Station in
Great Lakes near Chicago.
During its 30 months of
existence, over 293,000 sailors
received basic training at
Farragut. After basic, gunner
and navigation school, Gilly
was assigned to Bombing
Squadron VB-146 on a Ventura
PV-1 airplane. In August of
1943, one of the planes, piloted
by Lt. Commander Ralph
Beachum and his crew of five,
was lost in the mountains in
Washington State; inclement
weather prevented any search
for the downed craft. In
December 1943, the squadron
moved to the Naval Air Station
in Alameda, California for final
training. There, all aircraft,
equipment and men were
put aboard the USS Coral Sea
and shipped to NAS Kaneohe
Bay, Hawaii, with additional
training done in the Hawaiian
Islands.
In June 1944, Gilly’s squadron
was sent to the South Pacific
area of the Admiralty Islands
where they conducted combat
missions. In December 1944,
the squadron (now called VPB-
146) was deployed to Morotoi
to conduct searches and strikes
on Japanese shipping. Morotoi
was noted by one of the men as
“nothing but mud, mosquitoes,
occasionally a python
and frequently a Japanese
infiltrator.” Gilly remembered
“occasional Japanese air raids
which destroyed some planes
on the ground.” He continued,
“We got shot at quite a bit from
Japanese ground installations
on some of the other islands
we flew over.” By the end of
their tour of duty, VPB-146
had lost nine aircraft and 27
men in combat (10 officers and
17 enlisted men). One of the
crew members, Max Hartman,
noted, “Some of us matured
while others died. Except for
those who died, we did not
do extraordinary or heroic
things, but we all did what we
were called upon to do.” Gilly
was proud to be part of this
squadron. VPB-146 returned to
Hawaii in February 1945 and
then back to NAS Alameda,
California.
Cobb was discharged on
October 13, 1945 and took
a train back to Lubbock.
He was awarded the Good
Conduct Medal, the Philippine
Liberation Ribbon and the
Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon.
After 52 years, the Navy
awarded Cobb with the Air
Medal and Gold Star that
he earned with the Patrol