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April 21, 1942
January 26, 1943 May 25, 1943
May 26, 1943
January 19, 1944
January 26, 1944
May 31, 1944
June 4, 1944
Undated |
John Milton Coffman was born on June 8th, 1921 in Richmond, Virginia. After he spent some time at the University of Richmond, John enlisted into the Air Corps on March 2nd, 1942. Initially he was in the 322nd Air Base Squadron in Bainbridge, Georgia but was soon transferred to the 5th Company Student Training Regiment at Fort Benning. From early November 1942 until the end of the war in Europe, John received letters from Benjamin Jacob and Lou Ella Coffman, his father and mother, as well as his girlfriend, Winifred Smarzo. John was stationed in France and joined the 47th Armored Tank Battalion as a Second Lieutenant during the Battle of the Bulge. Before he returned to the United States, John married Winifred, who had been stationed in England as a nurse. The wedding was April 26th, 1945 in Norwich, England. John kept fighting throughout the war because of the unconditional love and support he had from his family, �Never forget, always let us have your problems. Good or bad, maybe we can help when you least expect. You�ve helped with some of ours and we want to help you, especially, if at any time something goes wrong� his mother wrote to him on January 26th, 1944. When the war was over, John was promoted to a First Lieutenant and then he returned to Richmond, Virginia with his wife. John received and honorable discharge from the Army on October 20th, 1955. He and Winifred had two children, Constance and Earl. John worked for the City of Richmond, and advanced through the ranks of the Department of General Services until he retired on June 30th 1986. John Coffman died on December 8th, 1990 from ALS. In 2003, the University of Richmond awarded diplomas to those who had left college to fight in World War II. Winifred Coffman accepted his Bachelor�s Degree on May 4th, 2003.
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John Coffman |
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