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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Sponsor

Honored by:
Gloria M. Word

Born in Racepond, Georgia on 1 August 1919, Marine ace Perry Lin Shuman grew up in Lakeland, Florida. He attended Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana, and for 3Vz years studied aeronautical engineering. With war clouds forming in Europe, however, he left college before graduation to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Shortly after he enlisted, Shuman applied and was accepted for flight training. He received his commission and wings on 14 October 1941 and was assigned to VMF-121, the Wildcat squadron that would become the highest-scoring Marine squadron in the war.
Rising quickly to the rank of captain, Shuman scored his first victories, three Mitsubishi Zeros, on 30 June 1943. He became an ace two days later when he downed two more Zeros and was credited with a third as a "probable." He got his sixth, and last, on 7 July.
Returning to the States, Shuman was promoted to major and was subsequently given command of VMF-311, the only 20-mm cannon-equipped F4U-1 Corsair unit to fly in combat, and sent to Okinawa for his second combat tour. There Major Shuman led the first land-based fighter sweep to the Japanese home islands and led the first Marine fighters over China. VMF-311 was credited with 76 aerial victories with the loss of only two pilots. Shuman was high-time combat pilot in each combat squadron to which he was assigned; he never lost a bomber under his care; he never had a flight abort; he never missed a flight; and he averaged over seven hours of combat each day for 20 days during December 1942 at Guadalcanal.
Following World War II, Lieutenant Colonel Shuman attended the Navy Test Pilots School, where he qualified in all types of aircraft — transports, seaplanes, helicopters, and jet fighters. When the Korean War broke out, he was sent to Korea for his third combat tour.
Returning from Korea, Lin Shuman served in a variety of command and staff assignments, completed his undergraduate degree in aeronautical engineering, and earned a master's degree in economics through the Institute of Defense analysis. After 27-plus years and over 10,000 flying hours in the Marines, he retired in October 1967 as a colonel and became a cost engineer in Falls Church, Virginia.
Tally Record: 6 confirmed, one probable.
Decorations: Two Legions of Merit with combat "V"s, 9 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 1 Bronze Star, and 19 Air Medals.