Integral to this Collection is the biography page for Lee Willey, which itself exhibits 60 photographs, documents and artifacts that illustrate the chronology of Willey's career in aviation. Please direct your browser to his link to learn about one of the Register's most interesting and accomplished, yet little-known, pilots.

The following exhibits 25 documents and images of Rickenbacker-related correspondence with Lee Willey and his family.

About 1934 Willey took a job with Eastern Airlines, and from August, 1934 to June, 1942, and then, after his service during WWII, from August, 1946 to September, 1950 he worked for Eastern and Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a pilot of the line and instrument flying instructor for the airline. From his biography linked above, you learned that Eastern was not the first airline he worked for.

In 1927 he began flying for Standard Air Lines (SAL). SAL, for whom he flew for the better part of its 28-month business life, was bought by Western Air Express (WAE) during July, 1930. WAE then combined with Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) to become Transcontinental & Western Air (TWA) later in 1930. To complicate matters, WAE had acquired Mid-Continent Air Express (MAE) during 1929. Willey survived in the face of this flurry of Depression-throttled acquisitions. With perseverence, he literally wore the hats of most of these airlines over the short period of approximately 1928-1934.

Shared with us by the Willey family are the following pieces of correspondence between Willey and people related to Eastern. Eddie Rickenbacker was the head of Eastern AIrlines during the time Lee Willey worked for the company. As General Manager, Rickenbacker offered a genuine cordiality regarding his correspondences with Willey.

The documents are in chronological order, and include a complete series of "corporate" Christmas greetings sent by Rickenbacker to Willey during WWII.

Below, a thank you note from Rickenbacker to Willey from August, 1935. Note the early Eastern logo in the letterhead.

Thank You Note from Rickenbacker to Willey, August, 1935

Below, the Christmas Holiday greeting card for 1935.

Holiday Greeting, 1935

Below, the Christmas Holiday greeting for an uncited date, but probably late 1930s-1940. The company logo had changed to the eagle.

Christmas Greeting, Ca. 1930s

Christmas Greeting, Ca. 1930s

Below, a portrait of Rickenbacker autographed and signed for Willey.

Eddie Rickenbacker, Autographed Photo, 1938

Below, the company Christmas Holiday greeting for 1941. WWII had just begun. Rickenbacker's portrait is merged with the Eastern Airlines Eagle. Rickenbacker had achieved the rank of Major when he was in the military, therefore the stars on the card are simply stars of the season.

Eastern Airlines 1941 Christmas Greeting

Below, the message of the 1941 greeting.

Eastern Airlines 1941 Christmas Greeting, Message

Further, the war limited travel and celebration (food and drink). Likewise, many of the pilots and other personnel were busy or out of the country with military obligations. Letter, below, is self-explanatory in this regard.

Letter, May 15, 1942

Rickenbacker was asked early in WWII by Register pilot H.H. "Hap" Arnold to perform inspections of Army Air Corp facilities in U.S. theaters of operation. On October 21, 1942, Rickenbacker was on a B-17 in the Pacific on his way to an inspection. The airplane became lost, ran out of fuel and a ditching at sea ensued. A gripping story of the survival exercise Rickenbacker and crew endured for three weeks in rubber rafts at sea is here. In that story, you will find that Rickenbacker, after his rescue, made contact with at least two Register signers: Brig. Gen. Ennis C. Whitehead and Maj. Gen. Harold George, chief of the Air Transport Command, for which Willey was serving in India.

The letter, below, is in response to a note of encouragement to Adelaide Rickenbacker from the Willeys. It is dated on day nine of the 21-day ordeal, so there was still great uncertainty about the outcome of rescue attempts. Mrs. Rickenbacker, however, maintained a positive outlook.

October 30, 1942, Letter from Adelaide Rickenbacker

To continue with Christmas greetings, wartime greetings were relegated to a single page of paper (no multicolor cards with metallic accents). But, the cordiality remained, and the letters appeared to actually be signed by Rickenbacker. His Christmas letter of 1942 follows.

Letter, Christmas Greeting, 1942

The greeting for 1943 was a another simply worded letter that you may view here at Willey's biography page. The envelope with that letter exhibited at the link shows forwarding addresses that are characteristic of other correspondence to Willey during the WWII time period: he moved around so often that his mail was forwarded frequently.

Below, Christmas, 1944.

Letter, Christmas Greeting, 1944

And, below, the final wartime Christmas greeting. Willey was still out of the country and Rickenbacker's letter acknowledges that in the third paragraph.

Letter, Christmas Greeting, 1945

Below, a series of letters from Eddie Rickenbacker, et al., surrounding Willey's post-war return to the U.S.

Letter, April 2, 1946

Letter, April 16, 1946

Below, an April, 1946 letter to Willey stating urgency around his discharge from the military so he can conserve his seniority with Eastern. He was finally discharged from the military and resumed work with Eastern ca. August, 1946. It is not clear if he maintained his seniority, or if he was successful in route bidding. He stayed with Eastern until September, 1950.

Seniority Letter, April, 1946

Below, from August 1946, a letter conferring a photo album commemorating Willey's service during WWII prepared by Eastern.

"His Service Record", August 31, 1946

"His Service Record", August 31, 1946

Below, from November 15, 1949, Willey's twenty-year award. It was the season for twenty-year pins. Two of Willey's colleagues from Standard Air Lines, Paul Richter, Jr. and Jack Frye, had recently received theirs. Follow Richter's link to go directly to one of the warmest letters of personal congratulations that I have ever read.

November 15, 1949, Twenty-Year Award

Below, season's greetings for 1949.

Christmas Greeting, 1949

Christmas Greeting, 1949

Upon Willey's retirement from Eastern in 1950, this (unsigned) correspondence changed hands.

Retirement Letter, September 12, 1950

Below, a letter of sympathy and flight coupons, authorized by Rickenbacker, for free transport for Gladys Willey from Houston, TX to Miami, FL and return. These are dated June 5, 1953, nine days after Lee Willey passed away. The purpose of the flight appears to be to attend to Willey's retirement benefits. It is not clear if the tickets were ever used.

Sympathy Letter from Rickenbacker to Mrs. Gladys Willey, June 5, 1952

Flight Coupons for Eastern Airlines, June 5, 1952

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UPLOADED: 07/08/09 REVISED: