The Sedalia Katy Depot

Because there were no battles and no actual "hot" war, it is difficult to define the beginning of the Cold War. There were only two opposing sides, the United States and the Soviet Union and each built a stockpile of nuclear weapons. The United States during the 1950s developed and deployed several types of delivery systems for attacking the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons. 

1. long-range manned aircraft carrying nuclear bombs
2. land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads,
3. nuclear-powered submarines armed with nuclear ballistic missiles.

Each system became one independent leg of what was called the Strategic Triad. Any one of the three alone was powerful enough to deter attack. Because no enemy could realistically hope to destroy all three at the same time, the Triad seemed almost invulnerable.

In the early 1950s, the Air Force and the Strategic Air Command (SAC) began expanding their network of bases to carry out their mission. New aircraft were being added to the Air Force inventory and new bases were needed.

SAC officials expressed particular interest in a deserted base named Sedalia Army Air Field because of its central location. Sedalia Army Air Field became Sedalia Air Force Base (AFB) and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force.

--RONALD C. MARCOTTE, Brig Gen, USAF 509th Bomb Wing Commander

In 1939, Whiteman returned to Missouri and joined the Coast Artillery. After further consideration, he then decided to join the Army. Even as a young boy he had always had the desire to become a pilot so he asked his battery commander about an assignment to Randolph Field, Texas, where he would train to be an Army aviator. Eventually, he received orders to report to Randolph Field where he would realize his lifelong dream.

Soon, he volunteered for duty in Hawaii. Whiteman informed his family that he would fly his aircraft, the Lucky, Lucky Me, to San Diego where he would then be put on an aircraft carrier. The last letter received by the family was postmarked April 3, 1941, from Honolulu. After that, security concerns kept him from providing any further insight regarding his mission at Wheeler Field.

Although Whiteman was assigned at Wheeler Field, his squadron also had planes at Bellows Field on the northeast coast of Oahu. When dawn broke over Oahu on December 7th, 1941, 353 Japanese Zero planes winged their way towards their assigned targets. They were to attack the ships in the harbor, Schofield Barracks, Fort Schafter, Ewa Field, Kaneohe Field, Hickam Field, Wheeler Field, and Bellows Field. At 7:55 a.m. the first bomb fell on Pearl Harbor. At 8:02 a.m., the Japanese attacked Wheeler Field. The fifty-two P-40s and thirty-nine P-36s were destroyed and the base was virtually demolished.

As the bombing began, Whiteman was in his room at the Bachelor’s Officers’ quarters. He stepped out on the veranda, looked in the direction of Pearl Harbor, and immediately guessed what was up. Whiteman drove the twenty-five miles to Wheeler Field. Upon arriving and seeing the destruction (he had no planes to fly), he raced over to Bellows Field. It was 8:30 a.m. Whiteman jumped out of the vehicle and ran to one of the P-40s where some men were loading ammunition into the guns. He told them to get off the wing and he would fly the plane as was. He started the engine and taxied out to the runway with the engine still cold. In fact, Whiteman had been so quick to leave that the armorers did not have time to install the gun cowlings back on the wings. He began his takeoff run and was immediately spotted by two Japanese Zeros. He managed to take off and get approximately 50 feet into the air when the Zeros opened fire on him. He attempted to turn inside the two Zeros on his tail; however, the P-40 was too slow and cumbersome to succeed. The Japanese hit the engine, wings, and cockpit and the P-40 burst into flames. Whiteman was apparently still alive and he tried to make a belly landing on the beach north of the field. Instead, he crashed and the plane burned. At this point, several witnesses to the crash raced towards the plane in an attempt to rescue Whiteman. However, when they arrived at the crash site, Lieutenant Whiteman was dead.

Back home when the Whiteman family heard the news of Pearl Harbor, all they could do was hope George was out of harm's way. However, it was not to be. Late in the evening of December 7, a telegram came. It stated simply “Second Lt. George A Whiteman killed in action this date stop further information will reach you from war dept Washington sincere sympathy. Short C G Ft Shafter. Later in the night, Mrs. Whiteman was interviewed by a reporter from the Sedalia Democrat. Her words expressed a mother's hope and at the same time, a patriot's love of her country. She said: “It’s hard to believe. There might have been a mixup, it all happened so quickly. There’s nothing we can do but wait for further news from Washington.” Then she added, “It could have happened anywhere, anytime. We’ve got to sacrifice loved ones if we want to win this war.” During the December 3, 1955 dedication ceremony of the newly named Whiteman Air Force Base at which Mrs. Whiteman was a guest, the 340th Bombardment Wing adopted her words as their motto “Anywhere, Anytime”.

1919
October 16 George Allison Whiteman is born in Pettis County, Missouri

1935
May George Whiteman graduates Smith Cotton High School

1935-1937
George attends the School of Mines, Rolla Missouri

1937
George Whiteman moves to Chicago

1939
World War II begins
October 20 Enlisted Coast Artillery

1940
March 26 Transferred to Army Air Corp
November 15 - Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant Army Corp Reserves

1941
February 21 arrives in Oahu Hawaii, assigned to the 44th Pursuit Squadron, Wheeler Field
December 7 Lt. George Whiteman dies during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

1942
August 6 Sedalia Glider Base officially open
November 12 base renamed Sedalia Army Air Field.

1945
August 14 World War II ends

1947
September 18 the United States Air Force is created as a separate and
equal branch of the U.S. Armed Forces
October 31 George Whiteman’s body returns home to Sedalia and is interred at Memorial Park Cemetery
December 14 Sedalia Army Air Field closes

1951
August 1 Sedalia Army Air Field becomes Sedalia Air Force Base (AFB)

1952
October 20 the 340 Bomb Wing is activated

1955
September 23 Notification of the selection of a new name arrived from the Air Force. Sedalia AFB will be renamed in honor of Second Lieutenant George A. Whiteman.
October 1 The base is officially renamed
December 3 The official dedication ceremony Sedalia Air Force Base was
renamed Whiteman Air Force Base.

1961
June Air Force officials selected the base to be the location of SAC's fourth Minuteman missile wing -- the 351st Strategic Missile Wing

1962
February The new missile wing is activated

1987
January 5 Missouri U.S. Congressman Ike Skelton announced the Department of Defense had selected Whiteman AFB as the first home of the Air Force's newest bomber, the B-2 Advanced Technology Bomber--the"Stealth Bomber"

1991
September 1 SAC changed the wing's name to 509th Bomb Wing

1992
June 1 The Air Force disestablished SAC. Concurrently, the 509th became part of the newly created Air Combat Command.

1993
December 17 The Spirit Of Missouri arrives  - The 509th Bomb Wing's first stealth bomber arrives at Whiteman

1995
July 31 Missiles are deactivated under provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

2000
July 14 The Spirit of America arrives - The twenty-first and final B-2 bomber arrives at Whiteman AFB, Missouri.