Background
Whiteman, the eldest of 10 children of John and Earlie Whiteman, was born at the Wilkerson farm near Longwood.
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 South&T) before enlisting in the service in 1939.
Whiteman Air Force Base is named for him. 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 a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps and volunteered for duty in Hawaii early the following year.
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: "lieutenant"s hard to believe. lieutenant might have happened anytime, anywhere.
Whiteman was one of the first airmen killed during the assault which marked the United States entry into World World War II, and is considered the first American pilot killed in aerial combat in World World War II while serving under American forces.
The dedication and renaming ceremony took place on December 3, 1955.