A B-24 Pilot’s Letters Home
Memoir/WWII History
Date Published: May 27, 2025
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
In this posthumously published collection of letters and postal cards, William “Bill” Hanchett shares his candid experiences as a flight-school cadet, and later as an Army Air Forces pilot in command of a B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II.
Through Bill’s first-hand accounts, we learn that mastering the art of flying during wartime is about more than understanding engine throttle and airspeed. It’s about wondering when you’ll be called to fight and if you’ll be asked to betray your ideals. It’s about working hard and documenting the days, dreaming about the future, and longing for home.
An extraordinary primary document, Disgracefully Easy offers us a rare glimpse inside the military in the 1940s, a time when Americans worried about the fate of their great country and looked to the brave and courageous to deliver them from fear. This unique collection will be long remembered as an important addition to the annals of aviation history.
Interview with Tom Hanchett
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
Working on an actual book project made me a more disciplined writer, allocating specific times for writing, researching, and organizing the material to be covered into logical groups.
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
I can’t recall a specific early experience; however, I recognize the awesome power of language to educate, inform, advocate, and inspire.
What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?
I do not know what I would give up to become a better writer because I think all of life’s experiences contribute to my ability to write.
Tell us a little about yourself? Perhaps something not many people know?
I am retired and have always been interested in history. My master’s degree thesis was on a unique U.S. Army unit in World War II. For Disgracefully Easy, I had the original correspondence transcribed by an excellent typist. After that daunting task was completed, because of a birth injury, I typed the manuscript with one hand. I enjoy feeding birds in my backyard.
If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?
My reading “habits” were excellent from a young age. I think I would have practiced writing more often in order to become a better adult writer.
What is the biggest surprise that you experienced after becoming a writer?
Learning about all the business aspects of publishing. By nature, I am an introvert, so marketing a book and self-promotion does not come naturally to me.
Could you tell us a bit about your most recent book and why it is a must-read?
Disgracefully Easy: A B-24 Pilot’s Letters Home is my first book. The core of the book is correspondence my father wrote during World War II when he was a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Long before he became a distinguished historian of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and an authority on the assassination of Lincoln, Bill Hanchett served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. Composed primarily while he was training for the air battles of World War II, the book is organized according to each phase of flying school. Introductions and endnotes for each chapter provide information about topics and people referred to in the correspondence. The endnotes provide information about officers who had influence directly or indirectly on Bill’s military service. Some of these officers have not received much recognition in other literature.
The title of this book is taken from a postal card dated August 19, 1945, written to his father, in which Bill noted that for him, “…the war has been disgracefully easy…” when compared to others in the service. The title is ironic, even though he did not serve in combat overseas, as Bill’s correspondence shows, and many books describe, there was nothing easy about flying B-24 Liberator bombers.
Even before he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) Bill wrote regularly. His perspectives range from student, observer, critic, self-critic, pilot, instructor, and evaluator of war events, and American politics. In his writing we are introduced to Bill’s five sisters and his parents as they struggled in the wake of the Great Depression. Through his correspondence we follow Bill through basic training on the beaches and golf courses of Miami, an experimental Army Air Forces College Training Detachment, preflight, primary, basic, and advanced flying school. Bill’s correspondence provides first hand descriptions of flying a variety of different airplanes. After receiving his hard-earned pilot’s wings in February 1944, he did not fly any of the combat airplanes he desired but instead was assigned as an instructor-pilot in BT-13 Valiant trainers, just as the long-awaited invasion of Europe in Normandy, France was underway. A strong supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the election of 1944 he debated the election in correspondence with his father who supported the Republican candidate New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Bill’s observations and comments during the bitter 1944 presidential election resonate with our own tumultuous era.
That fall of 1944 Bill transitioned to the B-24 Liberator four engine bomber, and by the end of the year, he was thrilled to be “checked out” as a first pilot, airplane commander. Leading his crew in a replacement training squadron in Nevada, he expected an overseas assignment to the Pacific theater of operations, the Philippines, or China. He and his crew trained hard. He called himself “the original First Sergeant,” but as training continued his perspective changed and he commented about what had become “pointless flying.” The war ended with the atomic bombing of Japan, and several months later, Bill was discharged at Gowen Field, Idaho.
Though I knew a lot about my dad’s military service, the existence of the correspondence was never revealed until it was discovered in late July 2016 after he passed away. The letters and postal cards were bundled in a plain brown wrapper tied with string. On the wrapper, Bill wrote a note in 1961, that he hoped that the correspondence would be read in the future when it would “have some historical value.” The correspondence is unique and a must-read because it tells a story of the non-combat, training experience many servicemen had during World War II.
About the Authors
Thomas F. Hanchett
Now retired from federal civil service, Thomas Forster Hanchett holds a bachelor’s degree in government and two master’s degrees, one in history and one in public administration. In 2016, after his father Bill’s death, he found over three-hundred letters Bill had written during WWII. Given Tom’s interest in military history, it seemed only natural that he be the one to edit and present his father’s letters in manuscript form. Tom has also written historical and educational articles for various publications. A native Californian, he resides in North San Diego County.
William Hanchett
William “Bill” Hanchett (1922-2016) grew up in a wealthy family in Evanston, Illinois. His father lost his municipal bond company business during the Great Depression, changing their family’s lifestyle drastically. Bill attended Black Mountain College, but his time there was cut short because of World War II. He enlisted in the Army Air Forces, rising from private to second lieutenant, and then to airplane commander of a B-24 Liberator bomber. After the war, he continued his education, worked as a civilian historian for the U.S. Air Force, and taught history for over thirty years at San Diego State University. Bill authored numerous articles and historical books, including The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies (1983). He loved living in San Diego, California, where he spent time sailing on the bay.
Social Media Links
Instagram: @historiantom (Thomas Forster Hanchett)
Purchase Links
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1 comments:
The book sounds very interesting. I love memoirs and history!
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