John Franklin Bolt USMC

[keith A]

Does anyone have the promotion dates for this officer? I know he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in 1942 and was a 1st Lieutenant when he was with VMF-214 in September 1943. Some sources state he was promoted Captain in late 1943 but others give the date as later (1944? 1945?).

Post war he reached the rank of Major by 1953 and later became a Lieutenant Colonel.

best regards

Keith

[Frank Olynyk]

Keith,
From my book Stars and Bars:
He was commissioned a 2ndLt. on July 18, 1942
He was promoted to 1stLt wef Mar 31, 1943
He was promoted to Capt wef Dec 20, 1943
He was promoted to Maj wef Jan 1, 1951
He was promoted to LtCol wef Dec 31, 1954.

The last two I had to pull from the Registers of Commissioned Officers.

"wef" is my notation for "with effect from" since promotions are often back dated.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[keith A]

Many thanks Frank, I should have consulted my copy of "Stars and Bars". My embarassment is even more acute as it is open in front of me!

His Wikipedia entry is correct on his first commission date but thereafter seems to make him 1st Lieutenant in September 1943, Captain later in 1943, Major in December 1951 and Lieutenant Colonel in 1954. I have bought a couple of books about VMF-214 and F4U squadrons so hopefully they will firm up when Bolt actually became a Captain. I suspect his promotion to 1st Lieutenant would have been confrimed before September 1943.

I should mention that my copy of S & B is now very, very delapidated (I bought it around 1996), it's full of post-its and pencilled notes and the spine is broken, the dust-cover disintegrated a couple of years back but it's invaluable especially for details of US aviators who fought the Japanese.

my very best

Keith

[Frank Olynyk]

Keith,
Remember these are "effective" dates. Which I suspect means the date on which the pay rate changed (which is after all the important thing). The date on which HQ announces the promotion date will be different, and the date on which an officer receives the message of his promotion will be a third date. But the important date is the one shown in the USMC Lineal List, or the USN list of Commissioned and Warrant Officers. These books can be found on ABEBooks, or in government document libraries, or the services historical libraries.

Enjoy!

Frank.

[keith A]

Hi Frank, a point well made.

Looking at VMF-214 documents he is still listed as 1st/Lt in the 1 January 1944 pilot roster, but is listed as a Captain on 31 January 1944.

best regards

Keith

[twocee]

Back in 1986 I had some correspondence with John Bolt. One of the things he was most proud of took place on 1 August 1945 when he was assigned to VMF215 at Ewa. That morning he took up one of the squadron's Corsairs equipped with three drop tanks and a rubber seat cushion. He landed back after spending 14 hours 7 seconds airborne. This was a record for the Corsair.

[keith A]

Cheers George, I assume his sorties with VMF-215 were non-operational?

[Stig Jarlevik]

Originally Posted by twocee

That morning he took up one of the squadron's Corsairs equipped with three drop tanks and a rubber seat cushion.

I would have demanded at least two rubber cushions....

Cheers
Stig