Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman was born [Annotator’s Note: in September 1924] in San Jose [Annotator's Note: San Jose, California], but grew up and went to school in San Francisco, California. He spent his entire life there until 1942 when he left to play semi-professional baseball. There were hundreds of teams in the area, and Joe DiMaggio [Annotator's Note: Joseph Paul DiMaggio, a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees, often considered one of the greatest players of all time] was playing at the time which piqued Coleman's interest. Baseball was a part of his family life. Coleman was recruited to play in the San Francisco area for the Kneely [Annotator's Note: phonetic spelling] Yankees, part of the Yankees' minor league system. This was around 1941 and 1942. As war progressed in Europe, the Americans wanted to stay out of it. But then when the Japanese attacked the Americans on 7 December 1941 [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941], war was officially part of their life. Coleman was 17 years old at the time, and had a scholarship to go to USC [Annotator's Note: University of Southern California in Los Angeles] which he thought would be his future. One day in high school, Lowell High School, the principal brought in recruiters, two Navy aviators wearing golden wings and he knew that was what he wanted to be. Flying was not common at the time, not many people had been in airplanes so it was exciting. He had to wait until he was 18 to enlist, which he did in Wellsville, New York on 6 September [Annotator's Note: 6 September 1942], joining the V-5 Naval Aviation Program [Annotator's Note: V-5 US Navy Aviation Cadet Program, 1939 to 1943]. He grew up in the service, serving from age 18 to 21. In January [Annotator's Note: January 1943] he was called to Alamosa, Colorado for what was called war training service, or WTS, then preflight school at Saint Mary's [Annotator's Note: Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California]. He then flew biplanes in Olathe, Kansas [Annotator's Note: Naval Air Station Olathe in Olathe, Kansas], then went to Corpus Christi [Annotator's Note: Naval Air Station Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas] until 1 April 1944 when he was commissioned. While at Saint Mary's, Joe Foss [Annotator's Note: US Marine Corps Major, later US Army Brigadier General, Joseph Jacob Foss; fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient] came and spoke to them. Coleman idolized him. He began in the Navy, but when he was commissioned, became a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He flew a Dauntless Douglas [Annotator's Note: Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber] which is the type of plane that had sunk the four carriers at Midway [Annotator's Note: the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet carriers Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū were sunk during the Battle of Midway, 4 to 7 June 1942]. He enjoyed the thought of attacking a large target. When Coleman finally got to the Solomon Islands with his unit, VMSB-341 [Annotator's Note: Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 341 (VMSB-341)], they were the first dive-bomber squadron to be designated close air support. They had to be very careful or else they would hit their own troops.

Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman [Annotator's Note: a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilot with Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 341 (VMSB-341)] landed at Guadalcanal [Annotator's Note: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] and took off from Henderson Field there a few times, but did not fly missions while there. He was sent to Green Island, specifically Nissan Island [Annotator's Note: in Papua New Guinea] which was just a landing strip on a coral atoll. At the time, MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area] wanted them in the Philippines, so they arrived in Luzon after having hit Rabaul [Annotator's Note: Rabaul, Solomon Islands], a major Japanese base, a few times. The unit remained in the Philippines until July 1945 when carrier-qualified pilots, including Coleman, were sent back to the United States to prepare to strike the Japanese homeland, but the atomic bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] settled the issue. In the Philippines, they hit Aparri, Zamboanga, Borneo, Davao, the Jolo Islands, and others. They provided close air support in Manila [Annotator's Note: Manila, Luzon, Philippines]. They were bombed every night. Air war is a clean war. You are not standing next to someone who has their head blown off. Unless the plane blows up in front of you, you did not see death. His unit lost about four men. They accepted death as part of what they were doing. In Korea [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] he had a different experience, seeing his roommate blown up right in front of him. There was nothing left in Manila by the time they arrived. Most of the Filipino civilians were grateful to the Americans for having liberated them. Coleman visited Santo Tomas [Annotator's Note: Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp] while in the Philippines and saw released prisoners of war, many of whom were in poor shape, but not all. One day, they heard a clicking sound which turned out to be a Zero [Annotator's Note: Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighter aircraft, referred to as the Zeke or Zero]. Usually they came at night. When the war ended, Coleman was back in the United States, in Miramar [Annotator's Note: Miramar, California] with about 20 other carrier-qualified pilots. He was given leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] and went home. The atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] were dropped during that time. He was then sent to Cherry Point [Annotator’s Note: Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina] in January 1946. He did not want to go. All he wanted was to be promoted to first lieutenant, but remained a second lieutenant and did not like being seen as a "shave tail" [Annotator's Note: a mildly derogatory term for newly commissioned and inexperienced officers]. He was finally promoted to first lieutenant in March 1946.

Gerald Francis "Jerry" Coleman [Annotator's Note: a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilot with Marine Scout-Bomber Squadron 341 (VMSB-341)] did not continue flying after the war. He kept busy playing baseball. He did not fly a plane again until May 1952 when he went to Los Alamitos [Annotator's Note: Los Alamitos, California] and was recalled for the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. Coleman was owned by the Yankees [Annotator's Note: before the war, Coleman was recruited at age 17 to play semi-professional baseball in the San Francisco, California area] and was playing semi-professional baseball again. He did spring training camp in Lake Wales, Florida and ended up playing in Kansas City where he played second base, but was then sent to Binghamton [Annotator's Note: Binghamton, New York] for the year and played under Lefty Gomez [Annotator's Note: Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez, an American professional baseball player and five-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees]. The next year he went back to Kansas City, and then 1949 he joined the New York Yankees, playing second base. Joe DiMaggio [Annotator's Note: Joseph Paul DiMaggio, a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees, often considered one of the greatest players of all time] was a great player, Coleman saw him as a god. Coleman played and roomed with Mickey Mantle [Annotator's Note: Mickey Charles Mantle, an American professional baseball player] who joined the Yankees in 1951. They played together until 1957. He was a wonderful person, but easily swayed by others. He later developed an alcohol problem, but he was a great guy and a marvelous athlete. Roger Maris [Annotator's Note: Roger Eugene Maris, an American professional baseball player] was a wonderful person. He died of cancer. The public did not get to know these men, and often saw them as indifferent to fans who wanted autographs, but the reality is that they were overwhelmed by fans everywhere they went. DiMaggio never left his room. The players had a terrible time and were under great pressure. Coleman experienced some health issues which kept him out of many games for a while. He played in the World Series in 1957. He then worked in the front office as assistant personnel director, and later director managing the minor league teams. In 1959, he was gone 229 days of the year which was a disaster for his family. He got an offer to broadcast on Game of the Week on the weekends. He still calls games [Annotator's Note: at the time of the interview]. He still loves the game. He has been with San Diego [Annotator's Note: as the lead radio announcer for the San Diego Padres] since 1971.