BETHEA, HARRY .E. – LT COL – US ARMY AIR CORP
Class of 1934Service: U.S. Army Air Corps
Service Dates: 1935-1955
Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
MOS: COMMAND PILOT
Notable: DFC, COMMAND PILOT, WW2
Lt. Harry E. Bethea was born in 1917 in Wilmington, North Carolina. He graduated from New Hanover High School and later attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. In 1935, he served with the National Guard’s 252nd Coastal Artillery in Wilmington. On discharge in April 1941, he enlisted with the US Army, training to become a pilot in the Army Air Corps. After successfully completing his training, he was assigned to the 418th Bomb Squadron of the Eighth Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group at Thorpe Abbott airfield in Diss, England. (The unit would become known as the “Bloody 100th.” Lt. Bethea piloted twenty-one missions in 280 hours of combat flying in a B-17 Flying Fortress, including missions deep into Germany. Among the awards Bethea received were an Air Medal for “exceptionally meritorious achievement in accomplishing with distinction in heavy bombardment missions over enemy occupied Europe,” a Bronze Star, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to the US then transferred to service in the South Pacific, In 1947, he left the service as a lieutenant colonel and moved to Wilmington where he resided until his death in 1964.
Accolades: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Bronze Star,
Accolades: Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Bronze Star,