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Henry Clark Whittlesey
| Henry Clark Whittlesey | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 August 1906 Chongqing, China |
| Died | 2 February 1945 |
| Nativity | United States |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Military Intelligence |
| ASN | 0358386 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Rank at Ritchie | First Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 3 (2 November – 23 December 1942) |
| Section | H |
|
| Distinguished Service Cross |
- Killed in action. Listed in By The Numbers/Awards (from Ritchie Boy Secrets by Beverley Driver Eddy).
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Henry Clark Whittlesey (10 August 1906–2 February 1945) was a China-born Ritchie Boy (Class 3) and Dixie Mission officer killed in China; he received the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
Biography
Henry Clark Whittlesey was born on 10 August 1906 in Chongqing, China, one of six children of missionaries Roger and Annie Withey Whittlesey. He attended the Chefoo Schools in China through 1918 and later Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania (1924–1928). After returning to the United States he worked as a journalist in Philadelphia.
During World War II he trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 3) and at the Yale University Chinese School (1943). Fluent in Chinese, he joined the Dixie Mission (1944–1945), the American observation group sent to Yan’an to assess the Chinese Communists and consider closer wartime cooperation. While preparing in India and working in the Yan’an area he also wrote short wartime sketches later collected by his daughter Ruth Schroeder as Sidelights of the War.
On 2 February 1945, while on a reconnaissance trip south of Fouping connected with plans to evacuate downed pilots, Whittlesey was killed; accounts differ on whether he and a photographer were shot by Japanese snipers or captured and executed. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
Research notes
- To Yale. See: Mission to Yenan
- Dixie Mission; death 2 February 1945 near Fouping (accounts differ)
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 39 |
| Class_ASN | 358386 |
| Class_Name | WHITTLESEY, Henry C. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- Born Born and raised in China, Henry Whittlesey moved back to the United States before going to college. After marrying Jane Bernard, who gave birth to his first child Julia (Feeley) in 1942, he was summoned to help the American government explore means of cooperating more closely with the Communists in China as Roosevelt became increasingly dissatisfied.
- Distinguished Service Cross.
Sources
- Henry C. Whittlesey, Sidelights of the War, ed. Ruth Schroeder (New York: Transfer Art, 2006)
- Carolle J. Carter, Mission to Yenan: American Liaison with the Chinese Communists 1944–1947 (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1997)
- Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous timeline-adjacent documents; not uploaded): Henry C. Whittlesey note.doc
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
- 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-26 (1 post)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Henry C. Whittlesey for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Whittlesey, Henry C. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: HENRY C. WHITTLESEY.doc)