Jesse R. Pitts - Harvard and WWII

Harvard and WWII

He returned to the United States in 1938 to attend Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Initially interested in economics, he was attracted to sociology by Parsons, who taught at Harvard. Majoring in sociology, with a minor in economics, he graduated magna cum laude in June 1941. At Harvard, Pitts joined the Trotskyites but lost interest in the movement following the fall of Paris to the Nazis in June 1940. He tried to enlist and was placed on a waiting list in Canada but was never called up. After graduation he found a job at Macy's in New York. While he found the job unsatisfying, his roommate Jim Chapin introduced him to Jazz which was thriving in New York City and he truly enjoyed (later he would often start his classes with Miles Davis recordings.) Once the U.S. declared war, he enlisted in the US Air Corps and went into pilot training then sent to England in 1943, to the Base in Kimbolton as part of the 379th Bombardment Group (heavy). As second lieutenant he accomplished 25 missions (including 3 first missions over Berlin) over France and Germany as copilot of a B-17 bomber (H). Back in the U.S. he instructed new pilots, sold war bonds, and was a pilot for the Air Transport Command when he was discharged in October 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as the French Croix de Guerre. He started writing about his experience with the intention to write a book but this would go on hold until he retired from teaching 50 years later.