Mr. Joseph C. White ~ Author, WWII Army Air Corps Pilot
and former US Immigration Border Patrol Officer

Joseph C. White...


Joseph C. White was born in Natural Bridge, a tiny coal-mining town in the hill country of Winston County, Alabama. His family moved to Lawrence County, Tennessee, when he was five, and bought 50 acres of thin topsoil, rocks and mostly trees.

They built a house and a barn, dug a well, and cleared land for farming. He was the oldest of seven children so much of the heavy-duty work fell to him. His father had lost much of his endurance from serious illness suffered in France during WWI.

He joined the National Guard at age 18, and two years later he went into the Army. He transferred to the Army Air Corps in 1942 and qualified for flying school. He earned a commission and a pilot's rating.

After his discharge in 1945, he worked one more year on the farm before going to Florida to work in the citrus harvest. Subsequently, he began his career in real estate. He joined the U.S. Immigration Border Patrol in 1953 as a trainee, GS-6, and retired 21 years later in grade GS-15. He held positions of Patrol Inspector, Airplane Pilot, Chief of Air Operations and Logistics, Deputy District Director, District Director, Assistant Regional Commissioner, and Chief Intelligence Officer.

Border Patrol, 1954 National Champion Pistol Team