LT. GENERAL HEWITT WHELESS - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/22/1967 - HFSID 31920

HEWITT WHELESS
Praised by Franklin Roosevelt in a radio address, he co-starred with Ronald Reagan in an Oscar-winning film about his World War II heroics.
Typed Letter signed: "Hewitt", 1p, 7x8½. No place, 1967 August 22. On Lt. General's letterhead to Mr. Charles J. A. Russhon, New York, N.Y. In full: "Dear Charlie - Since I wrote you last, my schedule has changed - looks like I will be in New York in September 20th, but will be tied up with UN business, so still will have to turn down your kind invitation to the AFA dinner. I will be attending the Iron Gate Luncheon on the 21st, so maybe I will see you there. If you are in Washington on the 28th I'll look forward to seeing you, as I will be here then. Sincerely". One week after Pearl Harbor, the battered remnants of the US B-17 bomber forces in the Philippines were ordered to attack the Japanese invasion convoy approaching Luzon. Captain Hewitt Wheless (1913-1986), separated from the other bombers in his 5-plane attack group, led his plane in a single-handed attack on the Japanese fleet. Thereafter, he somehow brought his badly damaged bomber full of dead and wounded crewmen back to its base, shooting down several - the number is debated - pursuing enemy fighters. Looking for good news to report to the American public, President Roosevelt described in detail the heroics of Wheless and his crew during his weekly radio address to the nation. In 1942, Wheless and future President Ronald Reagan co-starred in Beyond the Line of Duty, a film recounting Wheless' experience from flight training through his December 14 mission. The film won an Oscar for Best Two-Reel Short. Later in the war Wheless, by now a Colonel, influenced US military strategy. It was he and Brigadier General Thomas Power who proposed to General LeMay that B-29 bombing raids on Japan be conducted from a much lower altitude than previously, dramatically increasing their effectiveness. Among the important US Air Force posts held by Wheless before his 1968 retirement were Chief of Staff of the Strategic Air Command, US representative on the UN Military Staff Committee, and Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Fine condition.