Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Jesse I. Ledbetter Reminiscence #05650-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Ellie Kinnaird of Chapel Hill, N.C., in September 2015 (Acc. 102313)

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2016

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2016

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Ledbetter, Jesse I., 1922-2015
• United States. Army Air Forces. Bombardment Group (Heavy), 485th.
• United States. Army Air Forces. Bombardment Squadron, 831st.
• World War, 1939-1945--Aerial operations, American.
• World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American.

• An updated version of this document is available in the WWII Mountain Memories: Home Front to the Frontline: Testimonies of WWII Veterans and Civilians from Western North Carolina collection at D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Jesse I. Ledbetter, of Buncombe County, N.C., was commissioned in 1943 as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served during World War II as a B-24 bomber pilot. Ledbetter flew 51 bombing missions with the 485th Bomb Group, 831st Bomb Squadron stationed in Venosa, Italy. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross medal for a bombing mission to Vienna, Austria, on 26 July 1944. Ledbetter retired from the U.S. Air Force after 24 years and began a career in real estate and politics. He served 12 years as a county commissioner, followed by 4 years as a North Carolina State Senator.

The Jesse I. Ledbetter Reminiscence documents a 26 July 1944 bombing mission to Vienna, Austria, by the U.S. Army Air Corps, 485th Bomb Group, 831st Bomb Squadron. Several other airmen contributed to Ledbetter's personal account of the mission, including Jack Breen of Buffalo, N.Y.; Burl Jackson of Lima, Ohio; Mike Lupoli of Tafta, Pa.; Harold Richards of Peoria, Ill.; and Bill Schuetze of Dearborn, Mich.