The Home of Elwin I Whaley, WWII Veteran and Korean war POW/ Silver Star Recipient

When Corporal Whaley set out on October 22, 1940, he might not have known it yet, but he was embarking on a career that would make him a hero of the forgotten war. Elwin I Whaley, a resident of Waukesha, WI, would work his way from Corporal in the National Guard to a Major in the Active Army Airborne. He would go from being a General Industry Clerk to an elite Airborne Infantry Officer trained to jump from planes, assault beaches, survive in the jungle, and lead men into battle. Elwin Whaley is an American hero.

While not much is known about Elwin before his military career, he grew up in Hartford (FamilySearch.org), Wisconsin, worked a sales job as a General Industry Clerk (The US National Archives), and in 1937 joined G Company 127th Infantry of the Wisconsin National Guard. He also married a nurse, Eldery Joyce Lee, on June 12th, 1939 (FamilySearch.org), and they lived together at 1145 Motor Ave, in Waukesha, WI (Waukesha Country Historical Society). Elwin had what seemed to be a simple life, enjoying life in Waukesha while occasionally executing his duties as a National Guardsmen. Elwin also must have liked the area, as he settled down in the same town he grew up in.

With war raging in Europe, a cautious US military began activating National Guard units. On October 15th, 1940 (Lineage and Honors Information), G Company 127th Infantry, stationed in Oconomowoc, WI (Waukesha Daily Freeman 1940), would have been one of the first guard units to activate from Waukesha County. This brought much pride to Elwin and his family in a community as patriotic as Waukesha. By October 22nd, Elwin found himself waiting at the train station in Oconomowoc as over 4,000 locals from the county wished him and the other 124 Guardsmen off. His wife Eldery and his parents would have been a part of the crowd of crying families saddened by the one year of training about to separate them from their loved ones. On the front page, the Waukesha Daily Freeman reported that as a mother cried, her boy yelled from the departing train, “Don’t worry, mother, this is just a train ride, well be back in a year.” Many of the guardsmen knew it would be a lot longer than a year, and some would never make it back (Waukesha Daily Freeman 1944). 

G Company 127th Infantry regiment arrived in late October at Camp Beauregard, LA. Elwin and his fellow guardsmen were not fans of the camp though, often referring to the camp as “Camp Disregard” (Red Arrow Stories). It is unclear if Elwin made it to camp Livingston, LA, in January of 1941 with his unit or if he left sooner, but much bigger and better things were ahead for Elwin. He left the 127th Infantry and headed to Fort Benning, GA. There he attended Infantry Officer Candidate School or OCS (Center for military history 2018). OCS would have seemed like a luxury to any enlisted Non-Commissioned Officer like Elwin, who had been stuck in a year of training at Camp Beauregard. AT OCS, Elwin would have learned how to lead soldiers into combat; it is also likely that it was here that Elwin was first introduced to the Airborne Infantry, a new military concept that involved dropping soldiers from the sky into battle using a parachute or glider. 

After graduating from OCS and becoming an officer, Elwin joined the 187th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR) that had recently been created on November 12th, 1942, and became part of the 11th Airborne Division. With the 187th GIR, Elwin conducted training with his new unit and learned to become a leader in the Infantry at Fort Polk, LA. The 187th GIR arrived at Camp Stoneman, CA, on April 29th, 1944, where Elwin led his soldiers, staging for their journey ahead in the pacific against the Japanese. In May, Elwin arrived with the 187th in New Guinea. In New Guinea, Elwin trained with his soldiers practicing airborne, amphibious, and jungle warfare. While the training was exhausting, it helped prepare him and his men for the tasks ahead. On November 18th, 1944, the 187th GIR conducted a beach landing on Leyte Island in the Philippines. Here Elwin saw heavy fighting and led his men in their first combat action of the war. The regiment took control of what was known as Purple Heart Hill. The taking of this hill would have been a challenge for Elwin and his still seemingly fresh troops. With experience now under his belt, Elwin and his men saw their next action on January 31st, 1945, as the 187th conducted a para-amphibious assault on the Island of Luzon. Elwin and his men had to fight through the jungle, and the 187th earned a presidential citation for their action during the battle (Army Historical Foundation 2000). 

The 187th continued to fight on Luzon and then on Okinawa until the Japanese surrendered in August 1945. The 187th then headed to Tokyo to act as an occupation force, where Elwin and his soldiers were the first foreign soldiers in 2,000 years to enter Japan. During the war, Elwin worked through the ranks from Corporal to Captain in only 5 years, which is usually a sign of a great soldier and a natural born leader. This would have made staying in the military a favorable option for Elwin. Elwin stayed in Japan from 1945 – 1949 (The 11th Airborne during WWII), when the unit returned home to Camp Campbell, Kentucky (The 11th Airborne during WWII). While in Japan, Captain Whaley welcomed his wife Eldery and son Robert, who moved to live with him shortly after the occupation, and also had their daughter Margaret in October of 1947 (Waukesha Daily Freeman 1947). It was quite the adventure for the couple, who had spent most of their last five years apart from each other.

When Elwin returned to the US with his family in 1949, he was stationed at Camp Campbell, Kentucky (Waukesha Daily Freeman 1950). While at Camp Campbell, Major Whaley joined the Military Advisor Group to the Republic of Korea. Somewhere in the mid-1950, after a visit from his mother, Elwin left for Korea. In Korea, Elwin worked with the Republic of Korea military as an adviser leading both Korean and American Soldiers against the North Koreans. On October 20th, 1950, Elwin was wounded in action during operations inside the North Korean sector (The US National Archives). Elwin spent October 1950 until February 1951 recovering from his wounds. Still, he returned to duty on the night of February 11th, 1951, when two divisions of the Chinese Communist military attacked the Republic of Korea regiment that Elwin was a senior adviser to. According to the write-up for his silver star, Elwin “Immediately went to the front to assist and advise unit commanders,” often “without regard for his own personal safety… repeatedly exposing himself to intense hostile fire,” to lead the soldiers. When Chinese soldiers broke the lines, Elwin was one of the last soldiers seen “directing efforts to establish a new line of defense” (Find a Grave). On February 13th, 1951, after organizing a defense that most likely saved hundreds of lives, Elwin was captured by the Chinese Communist Military. He died as a POW in a North Korean interrogation camp and was declared dead May 7th,1951. 

While the remains of Elwin have never been recovered, his gravestone is in Arlington National Cemetery, where his sacrifice is honored (Find a Grave). Elwin left behind Eldrey, his wife, as well as his children Robert and Margaret (The Washington Post 2011). When Elwin left home with the National Guard for WWII, he could not have known the adventure that awaited him, nor that he would have a successful career ahead of him that would make him a hero of the forgotten war.

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