Edward F. Rector, Flying Tigers Ace
Edward F. Rector was born in Marshall, Madison County, on September
28, 1916, and attended Catawba College in Rowan County. He joined the
navy in 1939 and received training as a carrier pilot. Rector was an early
recruit to the American Volunteer Group (AVG), nicknamed the Flying Tigers.
That group was organized to protect Chinese cities and the valuable supply
route known as the Burma Road from Japanese attack. On December 20, 1941,
Rector downed a Japanese bomber near Kunming, China, during the AVG’s
first combat mission. When the Flying Tigers disbanded on July 4, 1942,
Rector joined the Twenty-third Fighter Group. By the war’s end,
he had risen to colonel and had been credited with destroying 10.5 Japanese
planes. Rector remained in the military after the war, retiring from the
air force in June 1962. He died on April 26, 2001, and was buried in Arlington
National Cemetery.
For more on Rector, go to http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/efrector.htm.
Westray Battle Boyce, WAC Director
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Westray Battle Boyce, a Rocky Mount native and a working mother, enlisted
in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in 1942. WAAC trained
its members to perform noncombat tasks, freeing up male soldiers to enter
combat. With her intelligence and skills, Boyce quickly moved up the ranks
and earned recognition and respect from her male superiors. In 1943 she
was transferred to North Africa, promoted to lieutenant colonel, and attached
to the staff of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. During her assignment the
WAAC became the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and gained for its members
full military status and benefits. Boyce returned to the United States
in August 1944, soon after receiving the Legion of Merit award for her
“stirring leadership” and “outstanding service”
overseas. In July 1945 she became director of the WAC, with the rank of
colonel. When poor health forced her to resign in May 1947, General Eisenhower
wrote her a letter complimenting her work as a member of his headquarters
staff in Africa and Italy. Boyce, always a champion of women in the military, died on January 31, 1972. Click here to learn more about Westray Battle Boyce. |
George Henry Mills, Navy Commander
George Henry Mills (1895–1975) was born in Rutherfordton, Rutherford
County. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1918,
Mills became a career navy officer and an early advocate of lighter-than-air
(LTA) craft. During World War II, he commanded several airship patrol
units, popularly known as blimp patrols. In July 1943 he assumed command
of Fleet Airships Atlantic, heading up the navy’s LTA forces in
the Atlantic theater. He was promoted to commodore later that year. Mills
retired from the navy in 1949 and returned to North Carolina. He served
in the state legislature from 1950 to 1952.
Visit http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ghmills.htm
for more on Mills.
The Navy B-1 Band
In early 1942 the United States Navy established the B-1 Band, an all–African
American unit. Until that time blacks in the navy had been limited to
galley work. The band was formed to build the morale of white sailors
and civilians. It comprised the best African American musicians in North
Carolina. The forty-four men, many from North Carolina A&T College
(now North Carolina A&T State University) in Greensboro, went through
standard naval training in Virginia and then were stationed in Chapel
Hill. There they faced discrimination by white soldiers and civilians
alike, but their musicianship and military decorum eventually gained them
acceptance. The band presented concerts on military bases and at community
and naval events, ship launchings, war bond drives, and dances across
the state. In May 1944 it was assigned to sea duty in Hawaii, where it
continued to entertain civilians and naval personnel until the war ended.
The members of the B-1 Band were the first African Americans in the navy
to be recognized for their talent. Their achievements helped the African
American sailors who followed them break out of stereotypical jobs.
Click
here for more on the Navy B-1 Band.
The full Navy B-1 Band with their dates and wives enjoy a dinner party
in their barracks in Chapel Hill in 1943. Photo courtesy Judge James B.
Parsons.
Thomas Ferebee, Enola Gay Bombardier
Thomas Ferebee was born in 1918 and raised on a farm near Mocksville, Davie County. Ferebee attended Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk. He joined the Army Air Forces and, after two years in flying school, was assigned as a bombardier in England. He flew in the first American bombing mission over Europe, successfully attacked German-held oil fields in Romania, and led the first bombing runs over North Africa. Because of Ferebee’s skill and accuracy, pilot Colonel Paul Tibbetts chose him as bombardier on the Enola Gay, which released the world’s first atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. After World War II, Ferebee was promoted to colonel. He served as deputy wing commander for maintenance and was triple rated as a bombardier, navigator, and radar operator. During the Vietnam War, he served on B-52s. He retired from the military in 1970 and worked in real estate in Orlando, Florida. He and his wife had four sons. Ferebee died on March 16, 2000.
The following Tar Heel Junior Historian magazine article examines Ferebee's life:
http://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/collateral/articles/S08.Rendezvous.With.History.pdf
Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr., Best-Selling Author
Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr., a native of Mount Olive, became
a journalist with the Charlotte News after graduating from Central
High School in Charlotte in 1938. Like thousands of other American boys,
Hargrove received his draft notice in the months before Pearl Harbor as
the United States prepared for war. While stationed at Fort Bragg, he
started sending the Charlotte News short, humorous articles on
his transition from civilian to bungling soldier. In 1942 these pieces
were published as a book titled See Here, Private Hargrove. The
book became an immediate bestseller as millions of newly inducted servicemen
identified with the boot camp private’s entertaining stories. See
Here, Private Hargrove rose to the top spot on the nonfiction list
that first year. A successful movie based on the book was released in
1944, with a sequel appearing the following year. Hargrove later
wrote for the army newspaper Yank. He remained in the military
until the war’s end in 1945 and then moved to California, where
he became a successful scriptwriter for the movies and later for television.
Despite his success as a Hollywood writer, Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr.
is best remembered as the awkward recruit in See Here, Private Hargrove.
Visit http://www.cmstory.org/homefront/people/storiesHargrove.htm
to find out more about Hargrove.
Corporal Marion Lawton Hargrove Jr. signs a copy of his book See Here,
Private Hargrove for North Carolina governor J. Melville Broughton, ca.
1942.
Medal of Honor Winners
Eight North Carolinians received the Medal of Honor during World War II.
Raymond H. Wilkins. Wilkins, a major in the Army Air Corps and a resident of Columbia, Tyrrell County, received the Medal of Honor posthumously for heroic action on November 2, 1943. During a bombing raid on Japanese ships near Rabaul, New Britain, Wilkins risked his life to bomb (successfully) two ships and later sacrificed his life by crashing his plane to avoid hitting his squadron’s aircraft.
Ray E. Eubanks. This native of Snow Hill, Greene County,
and resident of LaGrange, Lenoir County was an army sergeant. On July
23, 1944, on Noemfoor Island, Dutch New Guinea, he led his men in a charge
even though he was seriously injured,. Eubanks died in hand-to-hand combat,
but his men successfully completed the attack.
Max Thompson. On October 18, 1944, near Haaren, Germany,
army sergeant Max Thompson from Bethel, Haywood County, single-handedly fought
off the advancing enemy while the injured men in his company were moved
to cover. Shortly afterwards, the injured Thompson again risked his life
by advancing alone on the enemy.
Charles P. Murray Jr. Fearing that German forces would
overwhelm his small patrol, army first lieutenant Murray, from Wilmington,
New Hanover County, fended off the attack near Kaysersberg, France, on
December 16, 1944. After causing enough casualties and confusion to move
in his men, he continued to fight despite severe injuries.
Henry F. Warner. On December 20–21, 1944, army
corporal and antitank gunner Warner fought courageously in a tank battle
near Dom Bugenbach, Belgium, even after being injured. Warner, a native
of Troy, Montgomery County, died in the battle and was awarded the Medal
of Honor posthumously.
Rufus G. Herring. A native of Roseboro, Sampson County,
Herring was a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. While his ship was under
heavy enemy fire during the pre-invasion attack on Iwo Jima on February
17, 1945, Herring, who had been critically injured, took the helm of the
damaged vessel and led it to safety.
Jacklyn Harold Lucas. At the battle of Iwo Jima on February
20, 1945, Lucas, a private first class in the Marine Corps Reserve, threw
himself on two grenades to save the lives of three fellow soldiers. The
native of Plymouth, Washington County, survived the blasts, and the men
he saved continued their advance.
William David Halyburton Jr. A native of Canton, Haywood
County, Halyburton served as a pharmacist’s mate second class in
the Naval Reserve. On May 10, 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, he moved
against heavy enemy fire to reach a wounded marine, giving him first aid
and shielding him from additional gunfire. Halyburton tended the soldier
until he himself sustained fatal wounds.
George E. Preddy Jr., Ace Pilot
George Preddy and his plane, Cripes A’Mighty 3rd. Photo
courtesy Greensboro Historical Museum
George Preddy was born in Greensboro in 1919. He graduated from high
school at the age of sixteen and attended Guilford College for two years.
After developing a yearning to fly, Preddy spent two years barnstorming
the state. He enlisted in the National Guard in 1940 and later received
a pilot’s license and a commission as a second lieutenant in the
Army Air Corps. After being stationed in Australia and the United States,
he was promoted to captain and sent to England. Preddy flew his first
mission against the Luftwaffe in September 1943. During the next seventeen
months, he achieved twenty-seven aerial and five ground victories, making
him the highest-ranking ace in the European theater of operations at the
time. On August 5, 1944, Preddy shot down six enemy planes in one day,
for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross. Later that year
he became the commanding officer of his squadron. On Christmas Day 1944,
Preddy’s plane was shot down by friendly fire, and he sustained
fatal wounds. In total, he flew 143 missions, logged more than 532 combat
hours, and had 26.83 aerial victories and 5.0 ground victories. His brother,
William R. Preddy, was also a fighter pilot. He was killed in combat on
April 17, 1945.
See http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/preddy.htm
for more on Preddy.
Thomas Oxendine, Naval Aviator
Thomas Oxendine, a Lumbee from Pembroke, Robeson County, was born in 1922. In November 1942 he became the first American Indian commissioned as a naval aviator. After completing flight training at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, Oxendine was assigned as a scout observation pilot aboard the USS Mobile. On July 26, 1944, he landed his seaplane in the midst of Japanese gunfire, in adverse weather, to rescue a downed fellow airman. For this he received the Distinguished Flying Cross. During his navy career, he test-piloted carrier-type aircraft and was combat flight instructor for the supersonic F8U Crusader. He also served in Korea and Vietnam and was director of plans for the navy’s Office of Information in the Pentagon. After retiring in 1970, he became chief of public information at the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. Oxendine resides in Arlington, Virginia.
William C. Lee, “Father of the Airborne”
 |
William C. Lee was born in 1895 in Dunn, Harnett County. He attended
Wake Forest College (now Wake Forest University) and North Carolina State
College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University).
Lee enlisted in the army and saw combat duty in France in World War I,
earning the rank of captain. He remained in the army after the war. As
he moved up the ranks, he advocated the establishment of an airborne combat
force. In June 1940 Lee organized a test platoon of paratroopers to explore
the feasibility of developing an army airborne force. Following its success
he was charged with commanding the Provisional Parachute Group. After
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Lee lobbied for a larger command
to train airborne forces, and a new unit was established at Fort Bragg
with newly promoted Brigadier General William C. Lee as its commander.
In August 1942 the army activated its first two airborne divisions, the
82nd and 101st, for service in Europe. Lee was promoted to major general
and placed in command of the 101st. Although a heart attack forced him
to leave active duty before D-Day, the men of the 101st jumped over Normandy
on June 6, 1944, with the battle cry “Bill Lee!” He returned
with his wife to civilian life in Dunn, where he died in June 1948.
Click
here for more on William C. Lee.
Robert Morgan, Memphis Belle Pilot
Born in 1918 and raised in Asheville, Robert Morgan attended college
in Pennsylvania. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1940. Five days after
the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he completed his training and became a second
lieutenant. Morgan flew the B-17 Memphis Belle to England in October 1942.
Seven months later that plane became the first heavy bomber to complete
twenty-five missions over Europe. It accomplished this feat without losing
a single crew member (losses among bomber formations flying into Europe
reached 80 percent). After returning to the United States, the crew of
the Memphis Belle toured the country to promote war bonds. Morgan
then served in the Pacific theater, flying a new B-29 he named Dauntless
Dotty and commanding a squadron. After completing another successful
twenty-five missions, he retired from the military in April 1945. He served
in the Air Force Reserve until retiring as a full colonel in 1965. Since
then he has worked in real estate in Asheville.
For more on the Memphis Belle, go to http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/a_people_at_war/war_in_europe/
memphis_belle.html.
Evelyn B. Whitlow, Nurse and POW
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The Whitlow family of Leasburg in Caswell County saw six (four sons and two daughters) of their twelve children in military service during World War II. Evelyn B. Whitlow was the first of the family to join the military. In May 1940 she joined the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) as a second lieutenant. Whitlow was serving as a nurse in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. She was among the eighty-one army and navy nurses captured following the fall of the Philippines on May 7, 1942. Known as the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor, these nurses were the first group of American women taken as prisoners of war. For three years she remained in Santo Thomas, a Japanese internment camp outside Manila, until being liberated on February 3, 1945. After the war she left the ANC, married a fellow POW from Santo Thomas, and moved to California. Whitlow died at the age of 78 in 1994.
Tuskegee Airmen
The Ninety-ninth Pursuit Squadron of the United States Army Air Corps,
better known as the Tuskegee Airmen, was the first African American military
flying unit. Formed during World War II, the squadron was based at Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama. Of the approximately 1,000 men who completed flight
training at the segregated Tuskegee Army Air Field, 445 served as combat
pilots. In 1944 the Tuskegee Airmen joined with three other all-black
fighter squadrons to form the 332d Fighter Group. As the war progressed,
the group completed more than fifteen thousand sorties, destroyed more
than 250 enemy aircraft, sank one enemy destroyer, and demolished numerous
enemy installations in the European theater. Sixty-six aviators were killed
in action, but none of the bombers escorted by the group was lost to enemy
planes. Toward the end of the war, the Tuskegee program expanded to train
pilots and crew to fly bombers, but the hostilities ended before they
could be deployed. The achievements of the Tuskegee Airmen led to the
full integration of the military in 1948.
Click
here to learn about several Tuskegee Airmen from North Carolina.
Terry Sanford, Paratrooper, Governor, and United
States Senator
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Terry Sanford was born in 1917 in Laurinburg, Scotland County.
He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1939,
worked briefly as an FBI agent, then joined the army and became a paratrooper.
During World War II, Sanford served in five major campaigns in Europe.
He was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge and rose from private to
first lieutenant. His exemplary military service won him several commendations.
After the war Sanford earned his law degree from UNC and worked as a lawyer.
He began his political career as a state senator and a campaign manager.
He was elected governor in 1960 and served one term. He later served as
president of Duke University, made several bids for the United States
presidency, and from 1986 to 1992 served as a United States senator. He
died in 1998.
See http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/about/Terry_Sanford/
for more information on Sanford.
Mary Blout Thorp
After viewing this workshop, the daughter of Mary Blout Thorp contacted the NC Museum of History to share her mother's story. "I wanted to share this picture of my mother, Mary Blount Thorp of Hamlet, NC. The picture was taken in 1945 during basic training at Ft. Des Moines, IA - also pictured is Mary's friend Millie Tanaka, of California.
In 1944 Mary had just received a teaching certificate from UNC-CH, but decided to join the newly formed Women's Army Corps. Life in North Carolina had gotten very dull, with all the young men leaving for the service. Wartime concerns in North Carolina affected many of the 'normal' things that young people do. Mary was presented at the Terpsichorean Debutante Ball in 1942 (I think that is the right year) - which was the last year the ball was held before the war.
She served stateside until right after the August, 1945 armistice, and then she was sent to Bremerhaven, Germany where she worked with a detachment dedicated to reuniting European war brides left behind in the chaos when their servicemen husbands were sent back to the States.
Mary died in 2007, but before she died she regaled us with stories of her time in Europe. She came home with a husband of her own, Lt. Edward H. Cope, whom she married in Vienna, Austria, in June 1947."
Complete one of the following assignments:
Option 1
Go to http://www.accessgenealogy.com/worldwar/northcarolina/index.htm.
Find the number of World War II army and army air corps casualties for
your county and the names of several soldiers who died (and, if you like,
using a different source, the names of several survivors). Do you find
it valuable to present local history in this manner? Why or why not? If
so, how might you use—or have you ever used—this type of information?
Post your answer on the workshop’s Bulletin
Board.
Option 2
Research the life of a World War II soldier from your area or elsewhere
in North Carolina. Write a short biography, including personal and military
information. Briefly discuss how you might use this biography in your
classroom and how your students could benefit from doing similar research
themselves.
Submit your completed assignment via e-mail to tricia.l.blakistone@ncdcr.gov.