William T Seawell
MilitaryRoger Freeman Photo
Commanding Officer of 401st BG from 5 December 1944 to 30 May 1945. Flew 30 missions. He later served as Commandant of the cadets at USAF Academy in Colorado and then as President and Chairman of Pan Amercian World Airways.
Silver Star/ Air Medal
A graduate of West Point in 1941, Colonel ( later Brigadier General) Seawell was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant with the US Army Air Corps and earned his wings in 1942. Posted in England with 401st Bombardment Group, he served as pilot and co-pilot, flying 20 missions between1943-45. He was remembered at Deenethorpe for flying Marlene Dietrich to her concert in September 1944 in B-17 Pakawalup with Captain Felix Kalinski and 1st Lt W Pfeiffer.
After the war his career in aviation involved post war air commands; a post as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy; two years with the Air Transport Academy; senior vice-president for operations at American Airlines and president of Rolls-Royce Aero engines.
Recruited by Pan Am in 1971 as president and chief operating officer, he later took over as chairman and chief executive. Despite efforts to save Pan Am from economic decline, Pan Am’s operating costs continued to climb and he retired in 1981.
Connections
See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.
Units served with
- Unit Hierarchy: Group
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
- Unit Hierarchy: Squadron
- Air Force: Eighth Air Force
- Type Category: Bombardment
Places
- Site type: Airfield
- Known as: Benefield
Events
Event | Location | Date | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Born |
Pine Bluff, Arkansas | 27 January 1918 | |
Died |
20 May 2005 |
Revisions
401st Bomb Group Association
New York Times Obituary
Evening Telegraph 1992 souvenir supplement
Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum Membership List, July 2000; Whos Who in the Eighth Air Force and/or Biographical Directory Command & Staff Officers Eighth Air Force 1942-45, http://www.401bg.org/Main/History/Members/Details.aspx?ID=719