Chester Elmer Coggeshall, Jr. Memorial Stone

Chester Elmer Coggeshall was born in Hyannis, Massachusetts in 1920 to Chester and Cora Olive Coggeshall. He was one of 12 children and graduated in the Class of 1938 from Barnstable High School. Chester, “Chet”, was an all-star athlete in baseball, basketball, football and track and field receiving varsity letterman 11 times. He was inducted Into the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame on November 27, 2010. On February 24, 1942 Chester E. Coggeshall enlisted in the United States Army at Fort Devens. In 1943 he completed his pilot training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona. Private Coggeshall joined the 343rd Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group in January 1944. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in March 1944, and was awarded Air Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 oak leaf cluster as a Fighter Pilot, and ended his first tour of duty on August 30, 1944 and was promoted to Captain. On April 16, 1945 Captain Coggeshall was scheduled on his second tour, which ended up being his last mission. His plane was shot down in Salzburg, Austria and he survived the crash but was captured by a village policeman and denied medical attention. He was brought to Freilassing, Germany and Burgermeister August Korbus, who was part of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), took him to a wooded area and shot him twice in the head. During the Dachau Trials, Korbus was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging at Lansberg Prison by a U.S. Military Court on March 15, 1946. His memorial stands on West Main Street across from Barnstable High School.