Ellis Whaley was born in Lumberport, West Virginia in December 1923. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He went to high school there and then to Ohio State University [Annotator's Note: in Columbus, Ohio]. His father was the principal of a high school in Lumberport. His mother was a teacher there. His father had an opportunity in Columbus and his parents thought the educational opportunities would be better there. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Whaley what his life was like growing up during the Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945.] They had a big garden. His memories of his father revolve around the garden. Whaley sold the things they grew. He had a great childhood. When Whaley decided to go to Ohio State, his father sold the house so they could be closer. [Annotator's Note: The interviewer asks Whaley if he recalls where he was when he heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941.] He was at the fraternity house at Ohio State. He knew he was going to be in the service quickly. His fraternity and the boys immediately began to wonder what they were going to do. They all knew they would be drafted or had to enlist. Whaley's interests were in aviation. He had almost two years of college. An airport, Don Scott Field, was at the University. He had intended to take flying lessons already. Two fraternity brothers and Whaley went to Cleveland, Ohio and applied for the Naval Air Corps. They were not taking new trainees. They resumed their studies. In a few months, they found out they were subject to the draft. Whaley was in engineering college. He was drafted before the Naval Air Corps could accept him. He went to Fort Thomas, Kentucky and was sent to the West Coast as a private.

Ellis Whaley does not remember where he had basic training. He was sent to California for special training. It was a quartermaster unit. Whaley was thinking about the Air Force and made several inquiries. The classes were full. He went to several places putting up tents and taking them down. He was not a happy soldier. He found it difficult to understand [Annotator's Note: why he could not get into aviation training]. He went to Charlotte, North Carolina and found out he was going to Europe. The Air Force finally called, and he was inducted. He went to West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. He had his time in and was ready to fly after six months. He went to Randolph Field [Annotator's Note: later Randolph Air Force Base in Universal City, Texas] for flight training. He took a lot of tests and told them he wanted to be a fighter pilot. After the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945], they were short of personnel for the South Pacific. His class was taken out of the Air Force and put back into general service. This was heartbreaking for all of them. He ended up in California preparing for combat. Whaley was promoted to Staff Sergeant and put in charge of a platoon and went to Hawaii. They trained for three or four weeks on the big island. Then they went to the Philippines for more training. The war in the Philippines was over but there were still Japanese soldiers around. They took care of them promptly. He was then told he was going to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. They took a ship over and sat offshore for a week or two. Whaley was in charge of an antiaircraft gun. They were strafed a few times, but nobody was hit. There were ships as far as you could see waiting for D-day [Annotator's Note: the day on which an operation or invasion takes effect]. Finally, D-day came up and they were given lessons in disembarking at the beach. They were not the first wave. That was the Marine Corps. That gave them some relief. They went down a rope ladder to a boat below one-by-one. They headed for shore while airplanes and ships, were going in too. They were told to dig in as soon as they hit the beach. He did not lose a man in his 50 person platoon.

Ellis Whaley's training had been in engineering. He was given a transit and laid out roads and a cemetery. He had some tough assignments on Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan]. It is prone to typhoons. On one occasion, his captain visited a ship offshore and put Whaley in charge of the company. They had occasional Japanese fire. The other problem was the weather. They used the caves frequently. Whaley was asked to take some men and a jeep and go to the front lines to get the body of a Lieutenant General who had been killed. Whaley got two volunteers and got the body. They got back without any trouble and the General was buried. Whaley cannot say he enjoyed Okinawa, but the people were friendly, and he did not lose a man out of about 200 people. Whaley thinks he was in the 3063rd [Annotator's Note: 3063rd Quartermaster Graves Registration Company]. He used to have records but has moved frequently and has no way to verify that. He lived in Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] for 20 years and had a business selling jet engine parts [Annotator's Note: Fanaco Incorporated]. He had a residence in Florida but lived in Paris for the most part. He also had an office in Cincinnati [Annotator's Note: Cincinnati, Ohio].

Some of the men Ellis Whaley trained with were weeping about being away from home. The climate in Washington was cold. It seemed like it rained every day. He only complained because he was not in the Air Force where he wanted to be. He had two friends who had an airplane and lived on his street in Bexley [Annotator's Note: Bexley, Ohio]. They tried to set some endurance records. He built model airplanes with rubber band engines out of balsa wood and tissue. He has been a pilot for over 50 years. He has flown all kinds [Annotator's Note: of aircraft] except helicopters. At the University [Annotator's Note: West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia], they only had Piper Cubs [Annotator's Note: Piper J-3 Cub light observation aircraft] for students. He did not get any advanced training at Randolph [Annotator's Note: then Randolph Field, later Randolph Air Force Base in Universal City, Texas] but would have gone into twins [Annotator's Note: twin engine aircraft] right away. Randolph would have been basic, and he would have graduated in about six weeks. He had wanted to be a fighter pilot. He had a brother-in-law who ended up as a Colonel who had six Flying Crosses [Annotator's Note: Distinguished Flying Cross; the Distinguished Flying Cross, or DFC, is awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight], the most of any Air Force pilot. He was Whaley's hero. Whaley had to go back to ground forces because they needed infantry. This was the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945] era and they were desperate for people. He saw his first combat action in the Philippines from scattered Japanese who were scared to death and trying to survive. He was under no pressure there at all. A few people were sent to Ie-Shima [Annotator's Note: Ie-Shima, Japan] and they got some combat. Ernie Pyle [Annotator's Note: Ernest Taylor Pyle; American journalist and war correspondent] was there and was killed. They got virtually no training in the Philippines. They tried to stay in shape, so they were prepared for the Okinawa invasion [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, code-named Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. They thought that is where they were going. Whaley was interested in Korea. They went to Inchon [Annotator's Note: Inchon, Korea] for a few weeks and then to Seoul [Annotator's Note: Seoul, Korea]. Whaley was put in charge of the telephone exchange. It was interesting and challenging and he enjoyed it. Then he was told he was going home.

Ellis Whaley spent a lot of time talking to his boys before they got off their ship [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of Okinawa, code-named Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. He told them they were not doing it for him, but for themselves and they have to get themselves protected as fast as they possibly could. There was so much activity and bullets going all over the place. Luckily enough they did not feel it. They stayed in bunkers for a couple of days. They were then able to erect camp sites. They took water and C rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food], which they lived on for two or three days. They stayed close to their foxholes. They lived in the sand and that was the place to be. Going to pick up the general was the most excitement Whaley had [Annotator's Note: Whaley had to retrieve the body of a general who had been killed] except for the typhoons. The trail from their beach was a mountain trail. Okinawa had good sized hills. Everything north was pretty rough. It took two hours to get to the end of the trail where the General was. He later found out the General had been killed by rock that had been dislodged by bullets. Whaley does not know how or why he was selected for that detail. He did not turn it down but does not know whether he could have. The two sergeants he took with him were from his platoon. His outfit was about in the middle of the island, close to the city itself [Annotator's Note: Okinawa City, Okinawa, Japan]. He went into town occasionally. It was not someplace he wanted to live, even after the war ended. They interacted with the civilians there who were glad to see them. They did not like the Japanese, or at least gave that impression.

Ellis Whaley is not sure about the timing, but either before he went to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, code-named Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan], or shortly after, they dropped the bomb [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945] on Nagasaki. At that point, they all realized the war was over. Whaley did not expect to go to Korea. His captain asked him a lot of questions about what he wanted to do after he left the service. He said he thought he could get him into West Point [Annotator's Note: United States Military Academy, West Point, New York]. Whaley liked that, but it did not happen. When he heard about the atomic bombs, he thought it was over. He felt terrible about it because of the people involved. He later got to know one of the pilots who would not want to talk about it. Everybody cheered mightily to know the war was over. Whaley liked the Korean people who were appreciative of what was being done for them. He was anxious to get back to college and get started at where he had left off. He was in Korea about six months or longer. He did what he had to do. He enjoyed the phone company work he did there. He was talking to people all over. He learned a lot and it was a good job. It was a daily grind waiting to return to the United States. He returned in March or April 1946. He got back and was measured for new uniforms to be presentable to their neighbors. Whaley was going to be sent to Indianapolis, Indiana. His family was waiting impatiently for him. His family had invited a lot of his friends and they had a house full of people. The first thing he did was to ask his mother where his clothes were. He took his uniform off before he even talked to anyone. Part of being home was having civilian clothes on. He was proud of his uniform and decorations but he had seen enough of them.

Ellis Whaley was discharged as a Staff Sergeant. He did not sign up for Reserve time and it was not offered. He wanted to graduate as fast as possible and get a job. He returned to Ohio State [Annotator's Note: Ohio State Universityin Columbus, Ohio] and used the G.I. Bill. He had had malaria [Annotator's Note: mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite] in the Philippines and was deathly sick. His medical costs were paid for as well. That was a good deal and probably saved him a few thousand dollars. The Bill was important because he had no financial resources other than family. Whaley probably had it better than most because he had a family to return to [Annotator's Note: in transitioning to civilian life]. His sister was in high school and things were good. He had belonged to a fraternity that was still there. He had a good social life. He was offered two good jobs. One was a job with Studebaker [Annotator's Note: Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company; American auto manufacturer] in South Bend, Indiana. He was interviewed by a man in the manufacturing end of the business. He accepted the offer and moved to South Bend. Studebaker was offered an opportunity to build jet engines for General Electric. They bought a plant in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] at Midway Airport. Whaley had been there a year and was asked if he wanted to be in the jet engine business. He said he would and moved to Chicago. It was a great move. When the contract ended, a person from G.E. [Annotator's Note: General Electric] called him and asked him if he would want to go to Cincinnati [Annotator's Note: Cincinnati, Ohio]. He got a good offer and he accepted. He started building jet engines. He stayed in Cincinnati until he had made a reputation. He got a call from a company in Cleveland that was supplying parts for the 104 Starfighter [Annotator's Note: Lockheed F-104 Starfighter interceptor aircraft]. Whaley had started as a production control manager and came to like it. They asked him if he would be interested in a job and he took it. He ended up as Executive Vice President. He went to Europe a number of times for that company. Fabrique Nationale [Annotator's Note: Fabrique Nationale Herstal] was in Belgium and they asked him to be their agent in Cincinnati. He decided though that he wanted to go in business for himself selling aircraft engine parts [Annotator's Note: Fanaco, Inc.]. He ended up representing ten companies. He got an office and apartment in Paris [Annotator's Note: Paris, France] as well as one in Naples, Florida. They did that for 20 years.

Ellis Whaley's most memorable experience from World War 2 would have to be Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, code-named Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. That is where it all came together. He had a lot of responsibility there. He had to get 50 people home safe and had some real idiots to work with. That was the most challenge he had. His company did not lose a man, but they were not on the front lines either. They had the privilege of supplying the front, but it was not like being fired on every day. He enjoyed Hawaii. The weather was bad. It was a good thing they had the caves, although they were scared to death to go in them. Except for the obvious, that he had to, Whaley would have wanted to serve his country the best way he could and that was being part of the war. Some people were able to avoid that. He did not try to avoid it. He volunteered for both the Navy and Army Air Corps. They found him and he was in the Air Force. There is no way to tell how the war changed his life. He would have married a different woman, he would have graduated sooner than he did, probably have a different job. Looking back on it, except for the tragic loss of a lot of good people, he has had a good life. He is still doing it, and now has a big garden. He does not think about his service anymore, except that he is proud of what he has accomplished both in the service and since. He has a lot of good memories and saw a number of good friends for years after he got out of the service. He would rather have been a pilot. America saved the world. He does not know what the alternative would have been. There was the situation with Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. There were a lot of bad people around and World War 2 got rid of some of them. Russia would have been a different country. You cannot write off all of those people and say it was a good thing. You just do not know what the alternative might have been. He does not talk about the war to a lot of people. You had to be there or in a similar situation. There are not any similar situations. He has no regrets. Whaley thinks having the Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana] and teaching the war is worthwhile. He has visited a few museums in Europe. Museums are very important to appreciate what somebody else has done. [Annotator's Note: Whaley invites the interviewer to come and see him.]