John E. Phillip Pickett collection

Collection — Container: 01.0201 - Box 1, Folder: 001

Identifier: 01.0201

Staff Only

Content Description

This collection consists of photocopies of personnel records, official orders, and photographs related to the service of John E. Phillip Picket with the 13th Air Force, a tail gunner serving aboard a B-24 with the 307th Bomb Group of the 13th Army Air Force during World War II. There are official records documenting the number of missions Pickett and his crew undertook. Copies of a number of publications, including a history of the 13th Air Force in the Pacific, as well as summaries of each bombing mission that Pickett and his crew undertook in 1945, and several postwar reminiscences are included in the collection.

Dates

1942-1999
Other: Date accessioned: 2001-06-07

Creator

Pickett, John E. Phillip, 1920-2000 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to the public.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical / Historical

John E. Phillip Pickett was born on June 20,1920 in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to joining the Army Air Force on June 20, 1942, Pickett was employed by the Department of Pathology at the Duke University School of Medicine. He attended preflight training at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas followed by primary flight school at Chickasha, Oklahoma with the 316th Army Air Forces Force Training Detachment. He did not advance further in pilot training and was reassigned to the aerial photography school at Lowry Field, Denver, Colorado from March 1943-June 1943. After completing photography school, Pickett was deployed to the 68th Air Depot Group based in Brookley Field in Mobile, Alabama. At Brookley, Picket photographed a boxing match between two African American fighters, possibly GIs. Pickett attended Harlingen Aerial Gunnery School from June 1944 – September 5, 1944.

Pickett was assigned to serve as gunner and radio for a B-24 with the 371st Bomb Squadron of the 307th Bomb Group of the 13th Air Force. Pickett’s crew took part in bombing missions against Balikpapan, Rabaul, Saigon, and other targets in the Southwest Pacific in 1945. Pickett was discharged from Army Air Force on November 10, 1945 at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina. Pickett enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Reserve on May 20, 1947 and was discharged on May 19, 1950. Pickett attended reunions with his crew in the 1990s.

Pickett died on January 31, 2000 and is buried in the Maplewood Cemetery in Durham, North Carolina.

Extent

.25 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Custodial History

Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.

Subjects

Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Airplanes, Military--Decoration. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
B-24 (Bomber) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Bombing, Aerial Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Borneo. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Brookley (Mobile, Ala.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Chickasha (Okla.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Durham (N.C.) Subject Source: Lcnaf
Kelly Field (Tex.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Lowry Air Force Base (Colo.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Medicine, Military Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Mobile (Ala.) Subject Source: Lcnaf
Morotai Island (Indonesia) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Rabaul (Papua New Guinea) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Saigon (Vietnam) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Seymour Johnson Field (N. Carolina) Subject Source: Local sources
United States. Army Air Forces. Medals, badges, decorations, etc Subject Source: Local sources
World War, 1939-1945 -- Photography Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945--African Americans Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--New Guinea Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Philippines Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
World War, 1939-1945--Veterans Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
boxing Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings