Honoring the Fallen: 2/Lt. Barton L. Wherritt

Flight Officer (posthumously commissioned second lieutenant) Barton L. “Pete” Wherritt

Flight Officer Barton L. Wherritt joined the 3rd Bomb Squadron as a B-25 pilot on Christmas Day of 1944 and quickly earned the respect of both officers and enlisted men. In late February, he and other Americans who made up an aircrew, together with a Chinese crew, left with two of the squadron's planes for Laohokow (now Louhekou), where they were scheduled to stage for a few weeks. Situated in a deep plain on the Han River, Laohokow was situated in a "pocket,” with Japanese-controlled territory on three sides, to the north, east, and west. Its accessibility from the Yangtze River and the Peiping-Hankow Railroad―the two main arteries of supply and troop movements used by the Japanese in China―made it especially vulnerable to movement by the enemy. “Nimrod Detachment” was strategically placed to strike the enemy from this most-easterly of the bases then used by the 14th Air Force.

Called “Pete” by friends and family, Wherritt was born on April 9, 1924, and grew up in Montezuma, Kansas. He enlisted in February 1943 and was sent for pre-training to Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, and then, classified as an aviation cadet, to San Antonio, Texas, for primary training. Basic training was at Waco, Texas, then back to San Antonio for advanced training. When he graduated from there and received his wings, it was as a flight officer rather than second lieutenant.  After spending time as an instructor at various bases throughout the US, he was sent in November 1944 to China. Being placed in command of Nimrod Detachment demonstrated the high regard he had earned while serving in the 3rd squadron. Laohokow was abandoned to the enemy in late March, but Wherritt proved himself in combat on missions defending the base, as well as on many others during the following two months. Wherritt was among those lost on the mission against Ichang (Yichang) airfield on May 16, 1945 (see “Honoring the Fallen: 1/Lt. Donald J. Davis”). He flew as copilot to Lt. Davis on that doomed raid. Like the other members of that crew, Wherritt’s fate was not determined until after the war ended.

 Ironically, orders came through for FO Wherritt's commission to second lieutenant on May 26, when his fate (and that of the other missing crew members) was still unconfirmed. Lt. Willard G. Ilefeldt, squadron historical officer, commented that ever since Wherritt had joined the squadron, he and others had wondered why Wherritt was made a flight officer instead of a second lieutenant when he received his wings. “Those of us who have flown with him and associated with him in daily contact, appreciated his proficiency as a pilot and his good judgement, common sense, and other attributes for the makings of a good officer.” Ilefeldt speculated that Wherritt’s extreme youth may have been the determining factor. “In spite of his age (21), his actions, decisions, and military bearing were those of an older man. However, Wherritt must execute an oath of office before he can be put down in the morning report as a 2nd Lt. as he may be dead, or at best, a prisoner of the Jap. This predicament calls for the decision of a Solomon as to what course of action to take in Wherritt's behalf.” Although still officially MIA, FO Wherritt’s promotion to second lieutenant was confirmed in early June.              

 The squadron’s historical report for June but dated August 3 stated that early that month, Chinese Air Force Wings were officially awarded to 1/Lt. Davis, FO Wherritt, and two others. “Lt. Davis and F/O Wherritt may never receive the wings, for a third and probably final intelligence report came the first week of June concerning the ill-fated crew.” According to the report, five of the men had died in the crash and a sixth was taken captive by the enemy. Confusion arises from the fact that Davis and Wherritt had sent home photographs of themselves receiving their wings, presented by Lt. Col. Hsu Huan-sheng, Chinese deputy commander of the CACW, so obviously before the May 16 mission. However, the date the wings were awarded remains a mystery.

In early June 1945, those listed as next of kin had all been notified that the aircraft had failed to return from the May 16 mission and neither it nor any of its crew had been located. Lt. Allan Mikola, former squadron navigator, spoke to Mr. and Mrs. Wherritt by telephone on November 9, 1945, and he sent a letter to them the following day providing additional information that had recently been discovered about their son's death. He wrote that "by accident" he had met a Chinese officer stationed at Ichang who told the story through an interpreter. The six men, including Wherritt, were buried side by side outside the city of Ichang. "We never had any information before I met this Chinese officer.” Mikola assured the grieving parents, "You can well be proud of Pete, but as a man and as a pilot. On many missions he flew he had a Captain flying copilot with him. There are not very many flight officers whose ability and general character are such that an Operational Officer will fly copilot for them."

 After the war, Lt. Wherritt’s mother, Anna Wherritt, kept a newspaper clipping that included results of the military’s extensive search for missing personnel. It stated that Chinese villagers had honored the “six brave soldiers” by building a memorial arch at the common grave in which the Japanese had buried them. Correspondence through military channels provided more details during the following months. Bodies of the six men were recovered and relocated to Hungiao Cemetery in Shanghai before being sent on to Schofield Barracks, Territory of Hawaii. In the summer of 1949, remains of four crew members were returned by ship and then by train to their hometowns for reburial. Bart and Anna Wherritt reburied their son at Fairview Cemetery in Montezuma on Saturday, July 16—seventy-five years ago. The funeral was attended by family members from as far away as Oklahoma. His fiancé, Coleen Stanley, had moved past the tragedy and married in 1946.

Want to read the rest of the story? Find it in The Spray and Pray Squadron: 3rd Bomb Squadron, 1st Bomb Group, Chinese-American Composite Wing in World War II.