World War II Honoree

Claud Earl White

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Tushka, Atoka County, Oklahoma

Honored By

Robert S. Cox

ENTERED MILITARY SERVICE IN 1940. APPLIED, AND WAS SELECTED FOR AIRCREW TRAINING IN THE AVIATION CADET PROGRAM AS A PILOT. UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A BASIC MILITARY COURSE, PREFLIGHT NON-FLYING CIVILIAN SCHOOLING, PRIMARY, BASIC, AND ADVANCED FLYING SCHOOLS, HE WAS EARMARKED FOR FOLLOW-ON HEAVY BOMBARDMENT AIRCRAFT TRAINING, AWARDED HIS SILVER PILOT WINGS AND COMMISSIONED A SECOND LIEUTENANT. NEXT, ASSIGNED FOR TRANSITION FLYING TRAINING IN THE AIRCRAFT HE WOULD FLY IN COMBAT. SERVED AS A B-24 'LIBERATOR' HEAVY BOMBER PILOT OVERSEAS IN THE EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN THEATER, IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS (ETO). HIS UNIT’S AREA OF OPERATIONS INCLUDED GERMANY AND OCCUPIED EUROPE. DURING HIS LAST MISSION, HE WAS FORCED TO BAIL OUT OF HIS PLANE OVER GERMANY. HE WAS CAPTURED AND BECAME A PRISONER OF WAR (POW) OF THE GERMANS. HE AND 16 OTHER COMBAT AIRCREW MEMBERS WERE IMPRISONED FOR ABOUT 18 MONTHS AT BARTH, GERMANY. THEIR BARRACKS AT STALAG LUFT 1 WAS A 16-FOOT CELL FURNISHED WITH EIGHT BUNK BEDS. HIS POW GROUP WAS LIBERATED ON MAY 1, 1944. DURING THEIR FLIGHT BACK TO THE UNITED STATES, HE RECALLED THAT NONE OF THE RELEASED POWS SEEMED TO MIND THAT THEY WERE NOT HAVING TO WEAR A PARACHUTE. FOR THEM, THAT WAS A UNIQUE THOUGHT. AWARDED THE AIR MEDAL, PRISONER OF WAR MEDAL, AMERICAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, AMERICAN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, EUROPEAN-AFRICAN-MIDDLE EASTERN CAMPAIGN MEDAL, AND WWII VICTORY MEDAL. HONORABLY DISCHARGED AFTER THE WAR AND ISSUED THE HONORABLE SERVICE LAPEL BUTTON. CONTINUED IN U.S. AIR FORCE SERVICE AFTER THE WAR UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT WITH THE RANK OF MAJOR.