TEENAGE
WARRIORS
NORMAN
V. KELLY
As a parent I am sure you have anguished over your
teenage son or daughter who was late getting home, or forgot to give you a call
to ease your worry. I wonder if you can
imagine the pain and anxiety connected with having your son off fighting in
WW11 when he was fourteen or fifteen years old. Can you even begin to imagine that? Well, I want to tell you about our two local,
heroic young boys that did just exactly that.
His name was Norman Eugene Gibbs who lived at 1111
Meyers Street and went to school here in Peoria at Lincoln Grade School and
Roosevelt Junior High School. Norman had little interest in school and the very
first chance he had he did something that is rarely done by such a young man…he
joined the Marines. He was a big kid, five foot ten inches tall and a hundred
and fifty pounds. So when he fooled the Marine recruiter and signed the enlistment
papers, Norman Gibbs was a Marine. Norm
was born June 21, 1927 and when he went off to Marine training he was all of
fourteen years old. You can do the math. Born in 1927 he was in a Marine
uniform on December 15, 1941. Like the
kids would say…that is awesome! I wish I could go on to tell a lengthy story
about Norman Gibbs, but the truth is he was killed in combat on Tulagi Island
in the Solomon’s. His mother received a
telegram, no details, nothing but the horrible news that her young son was
killed in combat serving his country in December of 1943.
Clifford Wherley’s story has a much happier ending. Clifford was born in Astoria, Illinois and
also lived in Elmwood, then Yates
City
Although he was only five foot five inches and 130 pounds
he managed to do a bit of fibbing and was accepted into the United States Army
Air Force on April Fools Day, 1942. His
real birthday was May 27, 1927, which made him an aerial gunner on a B-26
Marauder at the age of fifteen! The teenage gunner had an exciting dangerous
time in combat, flying twenty-two missions and protecting his Bomber named
‘Thunder’ from German fighters. He shot
down one German ME-109 and had a probable kill on fourteen others. Imagine at age fifteen being shot at by
expert fighter pilots over North Africa? On his thirteenth mission his bomber
was forced to make a ‘belly landing,’ and thankfully the crew all walked away
from the crash.
Clifford held the rank of S/SGT and was awarded the
African Ribbon with a star, a Good Conduct Medal and an Air Medal with three
oak clusters.
Sadly for Clifford his career as a teenage warrior
came to an end when the Army discovered his real age, culminating in
verification from his mother. So,
Clifford came home a hero after his honorable Discharge on August 17, 1943. Well, that ended his Army career, but at the
age of 17 he enlisted in the United States Navy. During the time he had to wait
before his seventeenth birthday he spent some time traveling the States selling
war bonds. He was a distinct hero to the
folks in America and brought fame and honor to himself and his hometown folks.
He also took a job in Maryland
On June 1, 1944, here in Peoria, the brave Army Air
Force veteran joined the United States Navy and off he went once again to join
a Navy Fleet Air Wing. He became a Seaman First Class and left the Navy on
February 15, 1946. He appeared in a
movie and a book called Babe In Armor was to have been written about him, but
that never came to pass. He moved down
to Texas after working here at the Caterpillar where he and his wife raised
five children. He is now and living in
Greenville, Texas. I am working to get
him on an Honor Flight for veterans to Washington, D.C. If there was ever a veteran who deserved that
flight it is Clifford Wherley. Clifford
was said to have been the youngest Army hero, although I never really
researched the matter, I believe it.
Clifford Wherley is now eight-five years old and lives
in Texas. He has his health issues but
the last time I talked to him his spirits were high and delighted think that
someone still remembers him. We are
proud of him here in Peoria, and I hope the folks in Astoria, Illinois take
kindly to him. My father was also born
in Astoria, Illinois and he was proud of his hometown. Here is Clifford’s address, I bet he would be
happy to hear from the folks in Astoria ,
Illinois Greenville , Texas
Editor’s
Note: Norm is a 
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