According to records, Wilbur Duvall Cooper, was born in Kansas on 7 September 1929, the son of Carl T. and Pearl (Ogden) Cooper. Wilbur was one of eight children, with five brothers and two sisters. In 1930, his family was living in Belle Plaine, Sumner County, Kansas. Wilbur Cooper's father, Carl T. Cooper was a farmer. Between 1935 and 1940, the family moved to Salem, Sedwick County, Kansas where Wilbur's father operated a filling station, called "Cooper's Corner" (the building is there to this day). At first, the family lived in the basement. After some time, Carl built a house on top of the filling station and they lived there.
According to Wilbur Cooper's obituary, Wilbur was a 1947 graduate of Clearwater High School. After he graduated, he attended Southwestern College in Winfield before he entered pre-flight naval training in 1951. Wilbur graduated from pre-flight school at Pensacola, Florida. He went on to complete flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas and was then assigned to the USS Monterey to complete his pilot qualifications aboard an aircraft carrier.
Wilbur Duvall Cooper was one of eight Navy crew men who died at the end of the Korean Conflict.
The men who were in Patrol Squadron (VP-7) had completed their duty in the western Pacific and were headed home. Their plane a P2V-5 Neptune crashed on Diamond Head Crater after missing a landing approach at Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaii on 22 January 1954. The entire crew perished in the crash.
Crew members on the plane:
Find A Grave memorial numbers:
Joseph Daniel Beczek AD2 # 125055909
Richard Newton Brown AT3 # 102433863
Wilbur Duvall Cooper Ensign # 27006309
Walter J Hanzo LT.(jg)# 2982209
Gerald Martin Hazlett Ensign # 124937659
Paul Martin Koehler AM2 # 67478519
Michael Joseph Maksymon AT2 # 124897523
Robert John Staples ADC # 115308566
His father, Carl, had purchased a farm near Oxford and they had just moved there when Wilbur was killed; the Navy did not have their new address and was not able to contact them. Instead, they contacted Wilbur's aunt, Dorothy, and she, her husband Howard, Wilbur's uncle John and aunt Mary drove over to Carl and Pearl's house to give them the sad news in person.
Wilbur is buried at Belle Plaine Cemetery, Belle Plaine, Kansas.
****
Military service: Korea, ENS USN, Patrol Squadron Seven
According to Wilbur Cooper's obituary, Wilbur was a 1947 graduate of Clearwater High School. After he graduated, he attended Southwestern College in Winfield before he entered pre-flight naval training in 1951. Wilbur graduated from pre-flight school at Pensacola, Florida. He went on to complete flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas and was then assigned to the USS Monterey to complete his pilot qualifications aboard an aircraft carrier.
Wilbur Duvall Cooper was one of eight Navy crew men who died at the end of the Korean Conflict.
The men who were in Patrol Squadron (VP-7) had completed their duty in the western Pacific and were headed home. Their plane a P2V-5 Neptune crashed on Diamond Head Crater after missing a landing approach at Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaii on 22 January 1954. The entire crew perished in the crash.
Crew members on the plane:
Find A Grave memorial numbers:
Joseph Daniel Beczek AD2 # 125055909
Richard Newton Brown AT3 # 102433863
Wilbur Duvall Cooper Ensign # 27006309
Walter J Hanzo LT.(jg)# 2982209
Gerald Martin Hazlett Ensign # 124937659
Paul Martin Koehler AM2 # 67478519
Michael Joseph Maksymon AT2 # 124897523
Robert John Staples ADC # 115308566
His father, Carl, had purchased a farm near Oxford and they had just moved there when Wilbur was killed; the Navy did not have their new address and was not able to contact them. Instead, they contacted Wilbur's aunt, Dorothy, and she, her husband Howard, Wilbur's uncle John and aunt Mary drove over to Carl and Pearl's house to give them the sad news in person.
Wilbur is buried at Belle Plaine Cemetery, Belle Plaine, Kansas.
****
Military service: Korea, ENS USN, Patrol Squadron Seven
According to records, Wilbur Duvall Cooper, was born in Kansas on 7 September 1929, the son of Carl T. and Pearl (Ogden) Cooper. Wilbur was one of eight children, with five brothers and two sisters. In 1930, his family was living in Belle Plaine, Sumner County, Kansas. Wilbur Cooper's father, Carl T. Cooper was a farmer. Between 1935 and 1940, the family moved to Salem, Sedwick County, Kansas where Wilbur's father operated a filling station, called "Cooper's Corner" (the building is there to this day). At first, the family lived in the basement. After some time, Carl built a house on top of the filling station and they lived there.
According to Wilbur Cooper's obituary, Wilbur was a 1947 graduate of Clearwater High School. After he graduated, he attended Southwestern College in Winfield before he entered pre-flight naval training in 1951. Wilbur graduated from pre-flight school at Pensacola, Florida. He went on to complete flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas and was then assigned to the USS Monterey to complete his pilot qualifications aboard an aircraft carrier.
Wilbur Duvall Cooper was one of eight Navy crew men who died at the end of the Korean Conflict.
The men who were in Patrol Squadron (VP-7) had completed their duty in the western Pacific and were headed home. Their plane a P2V-5 Neptune crashed on Diamond Head Crater after missing a landing approach at Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaii on 22 January 1954. The entire crew perished in the crash.
Crew members on the plane:
Find A Grave memorial numbers:
Joseph Daniel Beczek AD2 # 125055909
Richard Newton Brown AT3 # 102433863
Wilbur Duvall Cooper Ensign # 27006309
Walter J Hanzo LT.(jg)# 2982209
Gerald Martin Hazlett Ensign # 124937659
Paul Martin Koehler AM2 # 67478519
Michael Joseph Maksymon AT2 # 124897523
Robert John Staples ADC # 115308566
His father, Carl, had purchased a farm near Oxford and they had just moved there when Wilbur was killed; the Navy did not have their new address and was not able to contact them. Instead, they contacted Wilbur's aunt, Dorothy, and she, her husband Howard, Wilbur's uncle John and aunt Mary drove over to Carl and Pearl's house to give them the sad news in person.
Wilbur is buried at Belle Plaine Cemetery, Belle Plaine, Kansas.
****
Military service: Korea, ENS USN, Patrol Squadron Seven
According to Wilbur Cooper's obituary, Wilbur was a 1947 graduate of Clearwater High School. After he graduated, he attended Southwestern College in Winfield before he entered pre-flight naval training in 1951. Wilbur graduated from pre-flight school at Pensacola, Florida. He went on to complete flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas and was then assigned to the USS Monterey to complete his pilot qualifications aboard an aircraft carrier.
Wilbur Duvall Cooper was one of eight Navy crew men who died at the end of the Korean Conflict.
The men who were in Patrol Squadron (VP-7) had completed their duty in the western Pacific and were headed home. Their plane a P2V-5 Neptune crashed on Diamond Head Crater after missing a landing approach at Naval Air Station (NAS) Barbers Point, Oahu, Hawaii on 22 January 1954. The entire crew perished in the crash.
Crew members on the plane:
Find A Grave memorial numbers:
Joseph Daniel Beczek AD2 # 125055909
Richard Newton Brown AT3 # 102433863
Wilbur Duvall Cooper Ensign # 27006309
Walter J Hanzo LT.(jg)# 2982209
Gerald Martin Hazlett Ensign # 124937659
Paul Martin Koehler AM2 # 67478519
Michael Joseph Maksymon AT2 # 124897523
Robert John Staples ADC # 115308566
His father, Carl, had purchased a farm near Oxford and they had just moved there when Wilbur was killed; the Navy did not have their new address and was not able to contact them. Instead, they contacted Wilbur's aunt, Dorothy, and she, her husband Howard, Wilbur's uncle John and aunt Mary drove over to Carl and Pearl's house to give them the sad news in person.
Wilbur is buried at Belle Plaine Cemetery, Belle Plaine, Kansas.
****
Military service: Korea, ENS USN, Patrol Squadron Seven
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