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.
Authors That Have Inspired Me
By Tom Hanchett
I would like to share with you a few authors who have inspired and influenced me.
S.L.A. Marshall was an army officer and journalist who wrote military history in a crisp, straight forward style. During World War II, as a military operations analyst, he developed an approach to interviewing soldiers shortly after they had participated in a battle to find out what had happened. This approach was used during the Korean and Vietnam wars and later, his work became controversial. In high school I had some correspondence with Marshall about his books and I think my later writing as a news reporter for a monthly magazine was influenced by Marshall’s style.
Carlo D’Este’s biographies of Generals Eisenhower and Patton are excellent blends of description and analysis of military operations and personal details about the subject individuals and other people who played parts in the story.
Rick Atkinson’s three-volume history of World War II in the Mediterranean and Europe provides a view of the war, from how the overall grand strategy evolved, down to how that strategy affected individuals and their families at home.
In a departure from military history, I am intrigued by historian Alan Taylor’s recent books which have examined North American history, telling the stories of the United States, Canada and Mexico during the same timeframes, for example,1850-1873.
The writings of Ronald C. White on Abraham Lincoln and Civil War figures like Ulysses S. Grant are inspirational as well. In one book, White describes the reflective Lincoln and how important it is to make time to just think without distractions.
The works of D’Este, Atkinson, Taylor and White reflect how diverse history is and how it can come alive for the reader. These author’s books are all well written and carefully documented with primary and secondary sources. Through great writing, the reader can see the events described, from entering a fancy hotel lobby during the Civil War, to parachuting into Normandy on D-Day.
In my book of edited correspondence, Disgracefully Easy, A B-24 Pilot’s Letters Home, I had my dad’s individual experiences in the Army Air Forces as the starting point. Using my self-study of World War II as background, in the chapter introductions and the endnotes I tried to describe the broader context of both the war and the aftermath of the Depression and its impact on the family. It is history from the bottom up rather than from the top down.
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