THEODORE C. HOOD PAPERS
M00-03
Theodore C. Hood was born at Fort Sam Houston, Texas in the Station Hospital on September 13, 1922, to Staff Sergeant Marion B. Hood, and Mrs. Mary L. Hood, of San Antonio, Texas. Hood’s father, Marion B. Hood, was a 31-year veteran of the United States Army Medical Department who served two years, six months in the Philippine Islands. Five months of this time was with the Philippine Scouts as their medical attendant, since they had no medical officer to their unit. In addition, the elder Hood served with the American Expeditionary Force during World War I in France and was a member of the Army Medical Detachment of the 26th Infantry. During the war he received numerous awards and was cited for his actions that saved the life of a French Medical Officer during a poison–gas attack by the enemy. The younger Hood would follow in his father’s footsteps by also becoming a 31-year veteran of the United States Armed Forces.
Chief Master Sergeant Hood’s formal education took place in several different locations including: Hot Springs, Arkansas; Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont; San Antonio, Texas; White Bluff, Tennessee; and back to San Antonio for graduation. He graduated from high school in San Antonio in 1942. In August 1942, Theodore C. Hood married Sarah E. Osborn of San Antonio. In September 1942, Hood joined the United States Army Air Corps at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
Because he had two and one-half years of high school R.O.T.C., Hood did not have to go through basic training. Two days after joining the Army Air Corps he was on the flight line at Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
After in-service schools at San Marcos Army Field, Texas; Amarillo Army Air Field, Texas. Las Vegas Army Air Field, Nevada; and Combat Crew B-17 training at Ardmore Army Air Field, Oklahoma; he was transferred via Kearney Army Field, Nebraska to England as a member of the Eighth Air Force, 306th Bombardment Group (H) 423rd Bombardment Squadron (H) also known as the “Grim Reaper” Squadron. In England, Hood was assigned the duty of Flight-Engineer-Top Gunner on a B-17 bomber named the “Solid Sender.”
During Sergeant Hood’s tour with the 306th Bomb Group he completed 35 bombing missions (290 combat hours) over enemy territory between 19 June and 21 November 1944. During his tour of duty with the Mighty Eighth in England, Hood received the Distinguished Flying Cross, four Air Medals, and the Purple Heart. Later in is illustrious career Hood would receive the Bronze Star, Meritorious Medal, Army Commendation Ribbon, Air Force Commendation Medal and thirteen other awards and decorations from the United States Army, United States Air Force, and the Republic of Vietnam.
Following his war-time tour Hood opted to join the Air Corps Reserves. However, he quickly found that his calling was as a full-time member of the military and re-enlisted after serving only two months in the Reserve Corps. Hood decided to make a career in what was to be known as the United States Air Force, rising to the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.
Having returned to active duty status, Sergeant Hood would spend his military career at bases within the continental United States, and Alaska, Germany, Japan, and the Republic of Vietnam. The Air Force assigned him to Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas; Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base, Burns Flat, Oklahoma; Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska; and Little Rock Air Force Base, Jacksonville, Arkansas. Sergeant Hood’s expertise in the area of aircraft maintenance would eventually earn him
a Bronze Star.
His last overseas assignment would be at Nha Trang Air Force Base, Republic Vietnam. Sergeant Hood would once again distinguish himself as had during World War II. During his assignment in the Republic of Vietnam he would receive several citations including the Bronze Star Medal. According to Sergeant Hood’s Bronze Star Medal Citation:
Chief Master Sergeant Theodore C. Hood distinguished himself
By meritorious service while serving with friendly forces engaged
In military operations against an opposing armed force in Southeast
Asia from 1 March 1968 to 31 December 1968. During this period,
he consistently demonstrated his professional ability, sound judgment,
and great enthusiasm to overcome the many involved problems
associated with countering aggression. His superb performance and
significant contributions assisted materially in the success and
effectiveness of United States military operations in Southeast Asia.
The exemplary leadership, personal endeavor, and devotion to duty
Displayed by Sergeant Hood reflect great credit upon himself and the
United States Air Force.
Sergeant Hood went on to receive the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
Upon returning to the United States in 1969, after his assignment to the Republic of Vietnam, Hood was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Jacksonville, Arkansas. Chief Master Sergeant Hood retired from the United State Air Force while stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. His service totaled thirty-one years on active duty, the same as his father, Master Sergeant Marion B. Hood.
Chief Master Sergeant Hood, and his wife, Mrs. Sarah E. Hood, have four children; one daughter, Geraldine L. Ganong, and three sons, Theodore C. Hood, Jr., John B. Hood, and Robert W. Hood.
As of August, 2000 the Hoods make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Box 1
File 1 - The Echo – Sept. 14, 2000 (UCA Student Newspaper) Reception honoring Chief
Master Sgt. Theodore C. Hood, WWII Papers
File 2 – Photos of U.C.A. Archives Reception for Chief Master Sergeant Theodore C.
Hood, Sept. 14, 2000
File 3 – Newspaper - Star-Bulletin 1st Extra – Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941 (please use copy
Provided)
File 4 – Newspaper – Honolulu Star – Bulletin 2nd Extra – Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941 (please
use copy provided)
File 5 – Newspaper – The San Antonio Light- Monday, Dec, 8 1941
File 6 – Newspaper – The San Antonio Light – Friday, Jan 2, 1942
File 7 – Newspaper – New York Harold Tribune – Paris, Feb. 27, 1945
File 8 – Newspaper - The Star and Stripes – Vol. 1, Nos. 129 and 133 – Aug 11, 15, 1945
File 9 – List of Food Parcels for one week WWII
File 10-Army Air Force Pay Grades – 1944
File 11-Prayer for Nation, President and Armed Forces
File 12-Military Order of The Purple Heart
File 13-Warning to all Prisoners of War/WWII
File 14-Scott Field, Illinois – Radio Operator/Mechanic School Army Air Force- 1942,
1943, 1944
File 15-Telephone Directory for U.S.S. Catoctin – 1944
File 16-V-Mail “Victory Mail” from World War II, June 24, 1944 – History of V-Mail –
(by e-mail 5/4/2001)
File 17-World War II Statistics
File 18-Miscellaneous Information on the United States Air Force
File 19-Fort Worth Star – Telegram – Sunday, June 5, 1994 - D-Day June 6, 1944 – (50 Years ago)
File 20A-Theodore C. Hood’s Combat Record
File 20B-Theodore C. Hood –United State Air Force, Retired, In-Service Professional Training
File 21-Awards, Decorations
File 22-Photos – 5 Color Photos B-17 Bomber
File 23-Phots of Damaged B-17 Bomber Flying Fortress
File 24-Photos of Air Strikes – W.W.II
File 24B-Photo – USS New Jersey – Last battle ship of U.S, - Navy to see Action – May, 1968
File 25-A Partial Summary of 8th Air Force Operations - European Theater, Aug. 17, 1942 – May 8, 1945
File 26-306th Bomb Group Summary of Operations – Oct. 8, 1942 – May 1945
File 27-Target Germany – The Army Air Forces’ Official Story of the 8th Bomber
Command’s First Year Over Europe – Published in Cooperation with Life
Magazine by Simon and Schuster, New York, 1943
File 28A-2 – Videos “Combat Medics/Bombing of Our Troops at St. Lo,
France/Bombing of London, WWII
File28B-2 Video Cassettes – “The Invisible, Unheard Soldier Voices” – “Pearl Harbor”
File 29-Article – View From The Ground, from 8th AF News, Jan. 1983 Vol. 9 #1
File 30-Newspaper Article “Liberation, Celebration in Paris”, Arkansas Democrat
Gazette – Sunday, Aug. 21, 1994
File 31-The American Air Museum In Britain Official Opening Ceremony – Aug. 1, 1997
File 32-The Reich Wreckers: An Analysis of the 306th Bomb Group During World War II, by Charles J. Westgate III – Major, UASF – April 1998
File 33-Newspaper Article – Remnants of Little America” – Museum at Duxford, England, Arkansas Democrat Gazette – Sunday, Jan. 3, 1999
File 34-Resolution to recognize the American G. I. as the Most influential figure of the 20th Century (House of Representatives, April 10, 2000)
File 35-“Thank You America!” Ceremony Dec. 12, 2001 – Consul General of France Denis Simonneau and photos
File 36-Newspaper Clippings, 1982 – 2004 and undated (Original and Copies provided)
File 37-Newspaper – Log Cabin Democrat, Monday - May 29, 2000 (Memorial Day) – Article – “Flying Again” page 1
End of Box 1
Box 2
File 1 – 423rd Squadron “Grim Reapers”, combat diary of the 306th Bomb Group (1942-1945)
File 2 – Article, 306th Reunion, copied from Reader’s Digest, by Andy Rooney (1982)
File 3 – Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1979)
File 4 – Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1980)
File 5 – Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1981)
File 6 – Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1982)
File 7 – Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1983)
File 8 – Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1984)
File 9 - Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1985)
File10-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1986)
File 11-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1987)
File 12-Newspapers, 396th Echoes (1988)
File 13-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1989)
File 14-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1990)
File 15-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1991)
File 16-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1992)
File 17-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1993)
File 18-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1994)
File 19-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1995)
File 20-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1996)
File 21-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1997)
File 22-Newspapers, 306th Echoes (1998)
File 23-Newspapers, 306th Echoes, (1999)
File 24-Newspapers, 306th Echoes, (2000)
File 25-Newspapers, 306th Echoes, (2001)
File 26-Newspapers, 306th Echoes, (2002)
End of Box 2
Box 3
File 1 – In Service Training Manual, CMSGT- Theodore C. Hood, USAF, Retired (undated)
File 2 – News, 8th Air Force (Feb. 1981 – Oct. 1988)
File 3 – News, 8th Air force (Jan. 1988 – Aug. 1995)
File 4 – News, 8th Air Force (Feb. 1996 – Mar. 2000)
File 5 – Chronology of Military Service Awards and Decorations of CMSGT
Theodore C. Hood – United States Air Force Retired (undated)
End of Box 3
Box 3B
File 1 – The 8th Air Force Memorial Museum Foundation (Jun, 2000)
File 2 – Correspondence, 8th Air Force (2000)
File 3 – Articles copied from 8th AF News (1991-2001 & undated)
File 4 – Article copied from 8th AF News, The Fog of War by Bill Rellstab – 388 BG,
Vol. 1 (Feb. 1994)
File 5 – Article copied from 8th AF News on B-17 and b-24; Catch 17 and 24 by D.V.
Chase-44th BG (1997)
File 6 – The 8th Air Force News, Vol. 00 No. 2, 3, 4, Voice of “The Mighty Eighth”
(2000)
File 7 – The 8th Air Force News, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2, 3, 4 (2001)
File 8 – The 8th Air Force News (2002)
File 9 – The 8th Air Force News, future copies (undated)
File 10-To Heal A Nation: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Jan. C. Scruggs and Joel L. Swerdlow (1985)
File 11-US Military Installations Road map
File 12-Photos, Arkansas’ Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial (2004)
File 13-Ted Hood’s Views on the War-WWII (Aug. 5, (2004)
File 14-Battles of casualties, C-130 Forces (undated)
File 15-Bedford WWII Airfield Trail (undated)
File 16-Miscellaneous Personal Information on Ted C. Hood (undated)
File 17-Japanese Government and Other Currency
File 18-Past Video and Booklets honoring Americans
End of Box 3B
Box 4
File 1 – Black Thursday by Martin Caidin (1960)
File 2 – Combat Crew by John Comer (1988-1989)
File 3 – The First Five Years of the 8th AF News, Vol. 1 thru 5, edited by Lt. Col. John H.
Woolnough (1975-1979)
File 4 – The Second Five Years of the 8th AF News, Vol. 6 thru 10, edited by Lt. Col.
John H. Woolnough (1980-1984)
File 5A – Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley with Ron Powers 2000
File 5B – Flying Fortress by Edward Jablonsky (c. 1965)
File 6 – Home By Christmas, the story of US 8th /15 AF Airmen at War, by Martin W. Bowman (1987)
File 7 – The Incredible 305th: The “Can Do” Bombers of WWII by Wilbur H. Morrison (1962)
File 8 – Memphis Belle by Monte Merric, based on screenplay by Monte Merric, a major
motion picture from Warner Bros. (1990)
File 9 – Reader’s Digest Illustrated Story of WWII, 3rd printing (1969)
File 10-Return to England: The 50th Anniversary, USAAF Reunion (1942-1992)
File 11-Secret Air Missions, copied Counterinsurgency Operations in Southern Europe
by Brigadier General-Retired-Monroe MacClosky (1966)
File 12-The Stars and Stripes World War II Front Pages, Hugh Lauter Levine Associates, Inc. (1985)
File 13-Stories of The Eighth an anthology of the 8th Air Force in WWII, edited by John H. Woolnough (1983)
File 14-Target Ploesti: View from a Bombsight by LeRoy W. Newby (c. 1983)
End of Box 4
Box 5
File 1A-Veterans of Foreign Wars Edition Pictorial History of the Second World War,
Vol. 2 (1950)
File 1B – Air Force Times Newspaper (2002-2004)
File 2 – Airman, Magazine of America’s Air Force (Jan. 2002-2003)
File 3 – News Magazine, Aviation Week, pg. 8 (Jul. 3, 2000)
File 4 – Air Force Magazine Articles Copied (2000)
File 5 – Magazine, NCOA Journal, Vol. 25, No. 6, serving all current and former enlisted members of U.S. Armed Forces (Nov.-Dec. 2000)
File 6 – Development of the Army Air Forces (1909-1945)
File 7 – Air Force Grade and Insignia
File 8 – How to Display the U.S. Flag
File 9 – TAPS and “Bringing War Dead Home” by Iain Walker (1998)
File 10-Armistice Day, changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to Honor American Veterans of All Wars (11 am, Nov. 11, 1918)
File 11-“The Face of War” by Ernie Pyle, correspondent who covered the War in Europe was killed by a sniper June 16, 1944 (Apr. 18, 1945)
File 12-Major U.S. Bases
File 13-Army and Navy General Hospital, Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center
File 14-Estimated numbers of U.S. Nuclear Weapons (Sept. 1977)
File 15-Brochure, Boeing B-29 Super Fortress (1997)
File 16-A B-36 Bomber
File 17-WAC, Women’s Army Corps (1942)
File 18-“Camp Pike/Camp Robinson Remembered”, Newspaper Advertising Supplement to The Drop Zone (1917 & 1940)
File 19-Photo, In Memory of Columbia’s Seven, Space Shuttle Columbia exploded on re-
entry to Earth’s atmosphere-see M03-4 (Feb. 1, 2003)
File 20A-“Secret Warriors” code talkers of WWII by Martha Davidson (undated)
File20B-Code Names from World War II printed from the internet on March 3, 2005
File 21-“The Doolittle Raid” led by Colonel James Doolittle (1942)
File 22-Dutch Harbor Naval Base, Fort Mears, Aleutian Islands (Jun. 3-4, 1942)
File 23-Operation Desert Storm
File 24-Article copied from The Fall of Fortresses by Elmer Bendiner (Oct. 18, 2000)
File 25-Article copied from FLAK, 2 copies (Oct. 2000)
File 26-Global Power News Magazine, articles copied
File 27-“Kriegie Journal Notes Mar. 28, 1945” by John Chaffin, 95th Bomb Group, Richard Hills, TX (May 2000)
File 28-Retired Officer Magazine, articles copied (2001)
File 29-Task Force Rock
File 30-Articles on Vietnam War (1960’s -1970’s)
File 31-9-11-2001 (Terrorists)
File 32-Miscellaneous News Magazine Copies
File 33-Modern Maturity Magazine, article on page 44, “Days of Infamy-Dec. 7 1941 &
Sept. 11, 2001 – How America Copes” (Nov. – Dec. 2001)
File 34-U.S. Involvement in Iraq, War on Terror (Spring 2003)
File 35-“This is Korea, 50 Years Later”, copied from AARP Magazine (Jul.-Aug. 2003)
File 36-An Evening Stroll by Virginia Reynolds, May, 2000
File 37-Newspaper (copied) Tribune Extra. Bismark, D.T., July 6, 1876 – First Account
of the Custer Massacre
File 38-Copy of Newspaper Article from Sheridan Press, Sheridan, Wyoming (Jul. 18, 1938)
File 39-“Ship blast devastates Texas City, Texas, U.S. Worst Industrial Accident
(Apr. 16, 1947)
File 40-Castles in the Air, the story of B-17 Flying Fortress crews of the U.S. 8th Air
Force, WWII by Martin W. Bowman (1984)
File 41-Eyes of Artillery by Edgar F. Raines, Jr. on WWII (2000)
File 42-NHA Trang, Vietnam (1968)
File 43-Correspondence with Archivist (2002-2004)
File 44-Correspondence with Archivist (2001)
File 45-Newspaper, Benton Courier, book signing for book Party Politics: The American
Decay (Sept. 14, 2002)
End of Box 5
End of Collection