- George Allison Whiteman
2nd Lt. George Allison Whiteman (born October 12, 1919 in
Pettis County, Missouri , died December 7, 1941 atPearl Harbor ,Hawaii ) was an Americanmilitary aviator , and was one of the first American military deaths inWorld War II .Whiteman Air Force Base is named for him.Biography
Whiteman, the eldest of 10 children of John and Earlie Whiteman, was born at the Wilkerson farm near Longwood. He graduated from Smith-Cotton High School in Sedalia and attended the Rolla School of Mines (later University of Missouri-Rolla and now Missouri S&T) before enlisting in the service in 1939.
In the spring of 1940, Whiteman received orders to report to
Randolph Field ,Texas , for training as an aviator. On November 15, 1940, he was commissioned asecond lieutenant in theArmy Air Corps and volunteered for duty inHawaii early the following year.As the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began, Lt. Whiteman went to his P-40B Warhawk aircraft at
Bellows Field and had just lifted off the runway when a burst of enemy gunfire hit his cockpit, wounding him and throwing the plane out of control. The plane crashed and burned just off the end of the runway. Whiteman died from his injuries.The news of his death reached his family at 10:13 p.m. the same day. In an interview with the "
Sedalia Democrat " that night, his mother said: "It's hard to believe. It might have happened anytime, anywhere. We've got to sacrifice loved ones if we want to win this war." She gave the reporter a photograph of her son sitting in an aircraft with the inscription "Lucky, lucky me."Whiteman was one of the first airmen killed during the assault which marked the United States entry into World War II. For his gallantry that day, Lieutenant Whiteman was posthumously awarded the
Silver Star , thePurple Heart , theAmerican Defense Medal with a Foreign Service clasp, theAmerican Campaign Medal , theAsiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one bronze star, and theWorld War II Victory Medal .On August 24, 1955, 14 years after Whiteman's death,
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Nathan F. Twining informed Whiteman's mother that the recently reopened Sedalia Air Force Base would be renamed Whiteman Air Force Base in tribute to her son. The dedication and renaming ceremony took place on December 3, 1955. [ [http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123075892 Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Office of History] ]References
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