Hansell, Haywood Shepherd, Jr.

Hansell, Haywood Shepherd, Jr.

(1903–88) aviator; born in Fort Monroe, Va. The son of an army surgeon, he graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology (1924) and worked as a boilermaker before enrolling as a flying cadet in 1928. One of a group of officers that believed air power alone could win a war, he reported on the German Blitz from London and later, commanding B-17s, participated in the bombing campaign against Germany. As chief of staff of the 20th Air Force in 1945, he helped plan the long-range strategic bombing of Japan. He became an executive for the General Electric Company after his retirement from the service in 1955.