White’s Athletic Career at Wooster a Footnote in His Life

Wilbert W. White, Jr., who went by his middle name of Wallace, was an accomplished athlete at the University of Wooster in the early 20th century, but that pales in comparison with his other achievements. White had a higher calling, eventually making the ultimate sacrifice during World War I.

On the afternoon of Oct. 10, 1918, White, who had been cleared to return to the United States after spending months over the skies in Europe, during which he scored seven confirmed victories and was the highest scoring ace of the 147th Pursuit Squadron, volunteered for one final patrol — a balloon strafing (bombing) expedition.

At the controls of one of the three Allied planes under Lt. White’s command was an American pilot, named Cox who had never before encountered combat. The group was jumped by five German Fokkers and one dove to the tail of Cox, so White turned to aid him, however, his guns jammed, leaving him with only one option to save the rookie’s life. White, according to multiple reports, "never swerved and drove his own plane (head-on) into the German’s, both crashing 500 meters below."

White, who is buried in a U.S. Military Cemetery in Romagne, France, was awarded with a Distinguished Service Cross as well as an Oak Leaf Cluster citation for his "extraordinary and subsequent acts of heroism." He was also recommended for the Congressional Medal of Honor by his famous captain, Edward Rickenbacker, who later called White "the bravest of them all."

Born May 1, 1889, in New York City to a Protestant minister and his wife, it is unclear where White grew up or how he ended up enrolling at Wooster. He must have had some type of connection because it is known that White was the nephew of John Campbell White, Wooster’s president from 1915-19.

Archives are also sketchy in terms of White’s athletic accolades, however, historians believe that he "would have qualified for unanimous recognition" for all-conference and all-state awards if they had existed back then.

White, who measured six-feet tall and weighed 160 pounds of "all muscle," according to experts, earned 10 letters in four sports — three each in football, basketball, and baseball and one in track. He was a three-year starter in both football and basketball, seeing action at the halfback and tackle positions on the gridiron and at center and guard on the hardwood. White was renowned for his defensive abilities in basketball and baseball, in which he started at least two years at catcher and hit .334 in 1911.

Immediately after graduation, White, who was also involved in the Men’s Glee Club and socially as a Beta at Wooster, married his college sweetheart, Elsie Machle, on May 12, 1912, in Endeavor, Pa.

Before White enlisted in the United States Air Service (today’s Air Force) on July 3, 1917, the couple had two children — Wilbert Wallace White III and Elizabeth White. Wilbert died in 1987 in Denver, Colo., while Elizabeth, who has been deaf since a childhood bout with scarlet fever, is still alive.

For more information on White and others like him, please visit www.theaerodrome.com and/or www.wwiaviation.com: Web sites that pay tribute to the brave pilots of that era.