Highley, Lyndell Thomasson (1919-1958), Papers, 1941-1944, 1978 (C3654)
.1 linear foot
INTRODUCTION
Letters from Highley to his family in Elvins, Missouri, while serving with the 375th Squadron of the 308th Heavy Bomb Group, Army Air Corps, in China and India during World War II. The papers also include an edited version of his letters by his son J. Scott Highley.
DONOR INFORMATION
The Highley Papers were donated to the State Historical Society of Missouri by Leslie Anders on 19 August 1975 (SHS Accession No. 1158) and J. Scott Highley on 30 October 1978 (SHS Accession No. 1978).
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Lyndell Thomasson Highley was born in Leadwood, Missouri, 30 January 1919, the son of Jeff and Kate McNeil Highley. He graduated from high school in Elvins, Missouri, and attended one year of college before he was inducted into the Air Force. He served overseas in World War II from 1943 to 1945 with General C. L. Chennault's forces in China and India as a navigator, and in 1944 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was killed in 1958 in the crash of a commercial airliner and an Air Force jet.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The letters from Highley to his family while he was serving with the 375th Squadron give a personal view of Air Force life in Asia during the war. He did not give information on battles or his location since that information would have been censored.
Letters from China is an edited version of some of Highley's letters, done by his son J. Scott, so that Highley's grandchildren would know something about their grandfather who was killed in an air crash when he was 39.
FOLDER LIST
| f. 1 | Correspondence, 1941 August 21-1943 May 2 |
| f. 2 | Correspondence, 1943 May 15-September 7 |
| f. 3 | Correspondence, 1943 September 16-November 6 |
| f. 4 | Correspondence, 1943 November 10-December 11 |
| f. 5 | Correspondence, 1944 February 23-November 28 |
| f. 6-7 | Letters from China, edited by J. Scott Highley, 1978 |
INDEX TERMS
These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.
- Highley, Lyndell Thomasson (1919-1958)
- Missouri, Washburn
- U.S. Army Air Corps, 308th Bomb Group, 375th Squadron
- World War, 1939-1945, China
- World War, 1939-1945, Correspondence
- World War, 1939-1945, India
- World War, 1939-1945, Uniforms