Walter Wesley Coolbaugh was born in Ransom, Pennsylvania, on 1 August 1914. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve for aviation training on 14 November 1940. Serving in a scouting squadron in the Pacific, he won the Navy Cross for his gallant conduct in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. Coolbaugh was promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 October 1942, and lost his life in an aircraft accident 19 December 1942.