Portrait, O.P. Weyland, 1942 (Source: USAF via Flickr)
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O.P. Weyland landed at Tucson five times between 1926 and 1931. His first visit was Saturday, October 2, 1926. He arrived solo in the Douglas O-2C he identified as 26-402. Based at San Antonio, TX, Ft. Sam Houston, he arrived from San Diego, CA (probably Rockwell Field). He landed at 3:25PM and remained at Tucson overnight, departing the next morning at 7:30 traveling eastbound. He cited his destination as Ft. Sam Houston.
His next visit was on Tuesday, May 14, 1929 at 4:15PM. He was again solo eastbound, arriving from San Diego, Rockwell Field, and citing his home base as San Antonio, TX, Kelly Field. He flew the Douglas O-2K he identified as 29-211. He remained overnight again, continuing the next morning at 9:45 for San Antonio, TX, Brooks Field.
Weyland landed the third time on Saturday, May 2, 1931 at 2:10 PM. He arrived solo this day in a Douglas O-38 that he did not identify by number. Based again at San Antonio, he was eastbound from Rockwell Field back to San Antonio.
He landed once as a passenger on Thursday, October 8, 1931. He was among six passengers carried in an Army Ford identified as "194" flown by Lt. J.J. Mollison. They were westbound from El Paso, TX to Riverside, CA, March Field. Weyland's name is circled and with a red check next to it in the Register.
His October 11, 1931, and final, landing at DM was made two weeks prior to his marriage in San Antonio. This time he carried a Private Dalton in a Consolidated PT-3 that he identified as simply "411." They were based at Riverside, CA March Field, and were flying eastbound through Tucson to Shertz, TX Randolph Field. His airplane, Consolidated "411," is a mystery, since it does not show up at Joe Baugher's site, or among any list of P-numbers.
Portrait, O.P. Weyland, Date Unknown (Source: USAF)
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His official Air Force biography is at the link and that information includes his birth and death dates (1902-1979), his retirement date, his education and military service history. His second portrait, right, is from that source. In this later photo, his face has become fuller, and he has added three stars to his shoulder. This portrait was included with his obituary from the Washinton Post cited below.
During WWI, George Patton called him, "the best damn general in the Air Corps." The reason was that Weyland's XIX Tactical Air Command provided the air support for Patton's 3rd Army. He received the Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Medal for his work. By the end of the War he was commander of the 9th Air Force.
During the Korean conflict, Weyland was commander of the Far East Air Forces and head of United Nations air forces. He added a Silver Star and a second Distinguished Service Medal to his list of awards. He retired from service in 1959.
Weyland indroduced the 1955 film "The McConnell Story" starring Alan Ladd and June Allyson. You can view and hear his introduction (on YouTube) at the link. By the way, Joe McConnell, the Air Force officer memorialized in the film, is not Register pilot J.P. McConnell memorialized on this site. Our "J.P." stands for John Paul.
Weyland's biographical file at the Smithsonian contains only a few pages, two undated photographs of him in uniform, one probably from the 1930s, and the other from 1945 signed to Alexander de Seversky, and an obituary from the Washington Post of September 6, 1979. He died of a stroke at the Air Force Hospital in San Antonio. He was survived by his daughter and three grandchildren.
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Dossier 2.2.176
THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/18/12 REVISED: 06/22/12
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