William O. Eareckson

Who was William O. Eareckson?

Colonel William "Eric" Olmstead Eareckson was an U.S. Army Air Force combat commander during the World War II Battle of the Aleutian Islands.

William O. Eareckson was the son of Thomas B Eareckson and Sarah Caroline Eareckson. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.

Eareckson enlisted in the Army at age 17 and fought in France during World War I, where he was wounded. After the war he remained in the Army and received a presidential appointment to West Point. While at West Point he composed a fight song for the football team titled "Gridiron Grenadiers". After graduation in 1924, he attended pilot training, but washed out. He then applied to the become a balloon pilot and was successful.

In 1928, then-Lieutenant Eareckson, together with Captain William E. Kepner, won the National Balloon Elimination Race and the accompanying Paul W. Litchfield Trophy. It was only two years later, at the relatively advanced age of 30, that Eareckson finally won his airplane pilot rating. In 1939 he was given command of the 36th Bombardment Squadron.

During the Aleutians fighting, Eareckson was famed for his innovative tactics.