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Home Town Richmond
Last Address Bingham
Date of Passing Feb 15, 2010
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William Bingham
BINGHAM, William Harrison, 88, passed away on February 15, 2010, 65 years to the day after first meeting his wife. He was born in Richmond on March 19, 1921, son of the late Lucien Warner Bingham and Mary Saville Bingham. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Alma Newell Bingham; his daughters, Kathryn Gorman and her husband, Richard F. Gorman III, of Richmond and Susan Mickey and her husband, John E. Mickey, of Clemmons, North Carolina; three grandchildren, Michael Davis Gorman and William Bingham Gorman of Richmond and Sarah Hollis Mickey of Clemmons, North Carolina and Providence, Rhode Island; his sister, Mary Keith Hinshelwood of Richmond; and his brother, Charles S. Bingham of Largo, Florida. Bill was an Eagle Scout, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School, and received his degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond. He was commissioned an officer in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific in World War II aboard the carrier USS Wasp (CV-18) as a dive bomber and fighter pilot with Dive Bomber Squadron 14 (VB-14). He fought in all the major campaigns of 1944-45, including the Marianas campaign and the liberation of the Philippines. He married in 1945, and in 1946 he brought his bride back to Richmond and joined his father in business at Bingham Truck Service. Upon his father's retirement, he took the sales department and formed his own company, Bingham GMC Trucks. He served as treasurer of the Virginia Highway Users for many years and on the General Motors Dealer Council. He stayed in the Navy Reserve, and led his squadron in Norfolk during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He retired as Commander in 1964. He loved all airplanes and enjoyed his naval career. He was president of the Richmond Jaycees, 1956-1957, the Richmond First Club, 1974-1975, and was chairman of the Community Chest. He served on the board of the Richmond Cerebral Palsy Center for many years, the Richmond Automobile Dealers Association, on the board of the University of Richmond Alumni Association, and as a Sunday School teacher and deacon at the River Road Church, Baptist. He was a longtime member of the Kiwanis Club of Richmond, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Historical Society, and was a volunteer at the Virginia Aviation Museum. He and Alma traveled the world and enjoyed great adventures. His favorite trip was when they flew an antique Stearman biplane from Kansas City to Richmond. He was a Virginia gentleman and a proud American. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to River Road Church, Baptist, 8000 River Road, Richmond, Va. 23229. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 19, 2010 at River Road Church, Baptist. His family will receive friends at the church following the service.
Published in Richmond Times-Dispatch on February 17, 2010
Leyte Campaign (1944)/Battle of Leyte Gulf
From Month/Year
October / 1944
To Month/Year
October / 1944
Description The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and formerly known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.
It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon from 23–26 October 1944, between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but was repulsed by the US Navy's 3rd and 7th Fleets. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered very heavy losses, and never afterwards sailed to battle in comparable force. The majority of its surviving heavy ships, deprived of fuel, remained in their bases for the rest of the Pacific War.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf consisted of four separate engagements between the opposing forces: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as other actions.
It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks. By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer aircraft than the Allied forces had sea vessels, demonstrating the difference in power of the two sides at this point of the war.