He got his start in aviation in the armed forces, where he spent 15 years, eventually rising to chief pilot of the army air corps.
In 1917, before the United States had entered World War I, Wellman volunteered for ambulance duty in France, then joined the French Foreign Legion, and finally became a fighter pilot in the Lafayette Escadrille, a French air corps unit made up of American flyers.
Inspired by Hollywood films showing heroic, goggle-wearing pilots, perhaps with a scarf flapping behind them in the wind, he enlisted in the air corps.
But the air corps has been busy moving Afghan troops into battle zones.
"My first real experience with black kids was living in the army air corps," Whitney said.
Most of all, he loved flying and wanted to join the army air corps.
It follows a German infantry corporal who joins his country's air corps.
He passed an eye test, and joined the army air corps, where he learned to fly.
The organization mailed Mr. Purnell an application form for air corps training.
Within months the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Glenn dropped out of Muskingum College to join the US army air corps.
