| Damon Jesse Gause | |
| Birth Date: | June 17, 1915 |
| Death Date: | March 9, 1944 (aged 28) |
| Birth Place: | Fort Valley, Georgia, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Isle of Wight, England |
| Branch: | United States Coast Guard United States Army United States Army Air Corps |
| Children: | 1 |
Damon Jesse Gause (June 17, 1915 – March 9, 1944) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army Air Corps. He was captured and escaped from Bataan, then Corregidor. He served with the Ninth Air Force and flew with the Hell Hawks.
Gause was born in Fort Valley, Georgia in 1915, the son of Duff Adolph Gause (1893–1965) and Jescyne W. Gause (1895–1978). The couple had two additional sons, Wilson A. Gause (1923–2006) and John Winston Gause (1925–2005).
Gause graduated from the Martin Institute High School. After high school, he attended the University of Georgia. After one year, Gause left school to join the United States Coast Guard.
In the United States Coast Guard, Gause was assigned to the USCG Cutter Argo (WPC-100), where his main duty was radioman. He joined the Army Air Corps to serve in Panama after three years of service in the Coast Guard.
Following a three-year stint in the Army, he went to work in the oil fields in Colombia for the Texaco Oil Company. In 1939, Gause went back to Georgia. He again enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1941 and qualified for flight training at Kelly Field in Texas. Gause completed the training and earned his wings as an aircraft pilot and received a commission as second lieutenant. He returned to Georgia, this time at Savannah, Georgia to serve with the 27th Bombardment Group. He trained on A-24 Banshee dive-bombers.
On February 13, 1944, 1st Lieutenant Harold B. Johnston took off from Gosfield, England in a P-47 Thunderbolt for a test flight, and died when his plane crashed only nine days before the first combat mission of the Hell Hawks and the P-47s. The Hell Hawks were part of the Ninth Air Force. The combat mission occurred on February 22, 1944, with several groups taking part in an uneventful run to escort bombers. Colonel Lance Call led one group. Another group was led by Major Rockford V. Gray, with Gause as wingman. Other groups were led by Major Donald E. Hillman and Major William D. Ritchie. In preparation to support the Allied invasion of Europe, the Hell Hawks moved with the 365th Fighter Group to RAF Beaulieu, Hants, England on 5 March 1944. During a test flight on March 9, 1944, Gause was killed when his P-47 crashed near Beaulieu, England.[6] [7]
On October 11, 1941, Gause married Lillian Ruth Evans Carter (1921–2014) and the couple had one son Damon Gause Jr. (1943–2006). Gause was buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial at Coton, South Cambridgeshire District, Cambridgeshire, England.[8]
In Georgia, U.S. Highway 129 South, also known as the Major Damon Gause Bypass is named in his honor.[9]