Government and Military Service
Having spent considerable time in France, C.V. Whitney's mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, became involved supporting the Allied forces during World War I. She dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital in France for wounded soldiers. Eighteen-year-old C.V. Whitney joined the United States Army, serving as a cadet in the Signal Corps, rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant.
With the onset of American involvement in World War II, Whitney volunteered again for service, rising to the rank of colonel with the United States Army Air Forces. At the end of the war, C.V. Whitney served under U.S. President Harry S. Truman as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (1947–49) and Undersecretary of Commerce (1949–50). He was also appointed President Truman's special envoy to England, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy.
Read more about this topic: Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
Famous quotes containing the words government, military and/or service:
“His Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.”
—A.J. (Arthur James)
“In all sincerity, we offer to the loved ones of all innocent victims over the past 25 years, abject and true remorse. No words of ours will compensate for the intolerable suffering they have undergone during the conflict.”
—Combined Loyalist Military Command. New York Times, p. A12 (October 14, l994)
“O good old man, how well in thee appears
The constant service of the antique world,
When service sweat for duty, not for meed!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)