Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Hanchett.
Hi Thomas, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
From an early age I have been interested in history. I studied World War II, especially the Battle of the Bulge, for many years. My master’s thesis in history was on a unique American battalion that fought in the battle. After writing the thesis, I contributed historical articles to the battalion’s veteran association publication. I also published a short article about this battalion in a commercial magazine.
My best and most difficult writing project has recently culminated in the publication of Disgracefully Easy: A B-24 Pilot’s Letters Home (Acorn Publishing, LLC. 2025), an edited collection of correspondence written by my father William (Bill) Hanchett. Long before he was a professor of history at San Diego State University and an authority on Abraham Lincoln, Bill Hanchett served in the U.S. Army Air Forces.
Of course, I always knew about my dad’s military service. In elementary school he gave me a book about the Army Air Forces which I pored over as a kid. It ended up serving as a reference for Disgracefully Easy. I also remember seeing his uniform jacket hanging in a closet. There were other mementos too, a B-4 bag (like a suitcase), shoulder sleeve patches, and a knee board that pilots strapped to one knee to make notes during a long flight. Finding his wartime letters in a bundle buried in my father’s office closet in 2016 at the time he died was a surprise to me and provided a new perspective on his service and on his family life during war years. My idea for the book evolved from this foundation after I retired the next year.
Composed primarily while he was training for the air battles of World War II, the correspondence consisted of 206 letters and 98 postal cards from the late 1930s to late 1945. The letters before Bill’s active military service are summarized in the prologue and in the first chapter. The title of this book is taken from a postal card dated August 19, 1945, written to his father, in which Bill noted that for him, “…the war has been disgracefully easy…” when compared to others in the service. The title is ironic, because even though he did not serve in combat overseas, as Bill’s correspondence shows, and many books describe, there was nothing easy about flying B-24 Liberator bombers. After receiving his hard-earned pilot’s wings in February 1944, Bill did not fly any of the fighter airplanes he desired but instead was assigned as an instructor-pilot in BT-13 Valiant trainers, just as the long-awaited invasion of Europe in Normandy, France was underway. In the fall of 1944 my father transitioned to B-24s and when the war ended in 1945 he was commanding and training an aircrew in Nevada.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The Disgracefully Easy book project was almost nine years start to finish. I started writing a narrative using the correspondence as reference, then early on, I was advised to let my father’s correspondence tell the story. The final book changed substantially from early drafts. I’ve learned that writing a book is a long process and you must be flexible, organized and patient.
Before I could start work on the book, I organized the letters chronologically, and divided them into distinct groups, for example, all letters written during advanced flying school, etc. I had the original correspondence transcribed by an excellent typist, a history graduate student, who learned more about WWII aircraft and airfields then she ever wanted to know! After that overwhelming task was completed, due to a birth injury affecting my left side, I typed the entire manuscript with one hand.
I always knew that finding a publisher was a difficult process requiring persistence. Because I am an introvert, self-promotion and marketing are daunting because they do not come naturally to me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My primary focus and specialty has been World War II military history. For background, I have a bachelor’s degree in Government and two master’s degrees, in History and Public Administration. In the late 1960s, while a high school student, I researched and wrote a short article about a U.S. Army officer, Colonel Howard R. Johnson, who was killed in World War II. I obtained personal recollections of general officers who had served with this regimental commander. The article was published in The Screaming Eagle, a publication of the 101st Airborne Division Association. In the late 1990s I assisted in editing a draft of the book, On Time On Target (Presidio Press, 2000), the memoir of a veteran of the 82nd Airborne Division. I researched and wrote a master’s thesis on the history of the WWII 526th Armored Infantry Battalion, a unique unit in the European theater of operations. I subsequently wrote historical articles for the battalion veteran’s association newsletter for several years. I also wrote an article about the battalion which was published in a commercial magazine.
After I retired I began organizing my father’s correspondence, which described his experiences in the Army Air Forces. I gathered research material to put the correspondence in a historical context. In addition to the correspondence as a primary resource, primary sources included official Army Air Forces records. I also referred to a number of books on the World War II era. Using my knowledge of World War II as background, in the chapter introductions and the endnotes I described the broader context of both the war and the aftermath of the Depression and its impact on my father’s family.
My best accomplishment as a writer has been the publication of Disgracefully Easy: A B-24 Pilot’s Letters Home. In addition to completing my master’s thesis, I am also proud of my work in the late 1970s as a news writer for MAINSTREAM magazine, a San Diego based monthly publication which covered issues impacting people with disabilities.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
While working on this book project I contacted a historian who knew my father and with whom I met briefly at a meeting. He was very generous with both his time and advice. I also contacted an author who has written about World War II aviation who was very helpful. There were others I contacted who assisted me in various ways. I believe that finding a mentor involves developing a personal relationship based on similar interests. I also think that luck plays a large part.
Pricing:
- $18.99 Paperback on Amazon
- $9.99 Kindle e-book on Amazon
- $18.99 Paperback on Barnes & Noble
- $9.99 e-book on Barnes & Noble
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thomasfhanchett.com
- Instagram: historiantom (Thomas Forster Hanchett)
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tom.hanchett.3 (Tom Hanchett)
Image Credits
Personal portrait credit:
Monique Hoppe, Photographer
2195 Faraday Ave, Ste. A
Carlsbad, CA 92008
Other photos are from the author’s personal collection.
