• Sept. 23, 1921 – June 22, 1945
• Engineering 1940-1942
  • UT Student when enlisted in March 1942
• 1st LT. Army
• Trained at Walker Army Air Force Base in Victoria, Kansas
• B-29 Co-Pilot, 458th Bomb Sqdn, 330th Bomb Grp.  Engine failure shortly after takeoff on Guam, forced to return. Harsh weather contributed to the crash, and the plane went off a cliff at the end of the runway.
  • Co-pilot
• First Lt. James D. Gilbert was killed June 22, 1945, on Guam, in an airplane crash, according to word received here from the lieutenant’s cousin, Cpl. Joe K. Dance.  James was 24.  Lt. Gilbert was a pilot of a B-29.  According to Cpl. Dance’s letter to his parents, the big bomber, piloted by Lt. Gilbert, took off from the island in a heavy rain.  A motor went bad shortly after the takeoff.  The plane came back, but the rain was so heavy the crew was unable to see the field.  They came in close to the ground, saw they weren’t on the runway, tried to rise, and could not gain altitude.   They ran off over a 300-foot cliff.  All the crew was killed except the tail gunner, he said.  Lt. Gilbert had been in service more than three years, and overseas since March. 
• Memorialized at:
  • Island Home Baptist Church Cemetery in Knoxville, TN
  • Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, Missouri
  • Arlington National Cemetery

James Douglas Gilbert (Sept. 23, 1921 – June 22, 1945) was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He attended the University of Tennessee from 1940 to 1942, when he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in March 1942. He was trained at Walker Army Air Force Base in Victoria, Kansas, and commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant and Co-Pilot flying B-29 bombers. He was deployed to the Pacific Theater in the 458th Bomb Squadron, 330th Bomb Group. Flying missions out of Guam, 1st Lt. Gilbert’s Plane left on a mission to target mainland Japan during a heavy rainstorm on June 22, 1945. The B-29’s #1 engine failed shortly after takeoff, forcing the plane to turn back towards base. Though they made it back to base, the crew was unable to see the landing field and crashed after falling over a cliff on landing. 1st Lt. James D. Gilbert was killed in the crash, with the only survivor being the tail gunner. He is memorialized at Arlington National Cemetery, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Lemay, Missouri, and at Island Home Baptist Church Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Back to Veterans Memorial Page