High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Gentry (DE-349) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket. Gentry was named after Wayne Roy Gentry who was killed in action 2 November 1942 in the Solomon Islands area while serving as a pilot in a Marine Scout-Bombing Squadron and was posthumously awarded the Air Medal. She was laid down 13 December 1943 by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas, launched 15 February 1944; sponsored by Miss Jean Maxine Gentry, Lt. Gentry's sister; and commissioned 14 June 1944, Lt. Comdr. D. A. Smith in command.