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John Haile Cloe

John Haile Cloe was born in Stafford County, Virginia in 1938. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 1963, and went on to serve 29 years in the U.S. Army. As an infantry officer, he served two tours in Vietnam and was later assigned to the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1970, he drove to Anchorage, Alaska in search of cooler weather and was assigned as Exercise Plans Officer for the Army. In 1973, John became the civilian Alaska Air Command historian at Elmendorf Air Force Base. He served in this position until his retirement in 2006. He also retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves in 1992. He served on the boards of the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Alaska Historical Society, and was an elder at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Anchorage.

John had an encyclopedic knowledge of the military history of Alaska and was the leading expert on World War II in the territory. He worked with the National Park Service to preserve the history of Alaska's war years, and led tours to Attu Island, the site of the land battle between American forces and the Japanese during World War II. John used his knowledge and the detailed records he kept of U.S. military actions in Alaska during World War II and of the Cold War era to produce fastidiously researched books, including Top Cover for America: The Air Force in Alaska (1984); The Aleutian Warriors, A History of the Eleventh Air Force and Fleet Air Wing Four (1992); and Mission to the Kurils, an account of the arduous but little-known World War II air and sea operations by American bomber crews against the Japanese Home Islands from Alaska's Aleutian Islands (2016).

John received the Alaska Historical Society's Alaska Historian of the Year in 1992 and their Pathfinder Award in 1988, and the American Aviation Historical Society's Author of the Year Award in 2004. He won the Air Force Wing Historian of the Year Awards in 1976 and 1994, and was also awarded the Air Force Association's Exceptional Service Award and two Medals of Merit for his documentation of Air Force history in Alaska. John also has appeared on the History and Discovery Channels on various occasions as an expert on Alaska’s military past, including the popular 2009 History Channel documentary, The Bloody Aleutians.

John Haile Cloe passed away on December 26, 2016 at the age of 78 years old. For more about John Haile Cloe, see his obituary in the Alaska Dispatch News.

Date of Death:

Dec 26, 2016

John Haile Cloe appears in the following new Jukebox projects:

Cold War in Alaska

Interview Title	Abstract	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Date of Interview
John Haile Cloe, Part 1	John Haile Cloe was interviewed on September 21, 2016 at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, Alaska by Karen Brewster. John lives in Anchorage, but he and Karen were both in Juneau for the 2016 Alaska Historical Society and Museums Alaska joint annual conference, so it was a good opportunity to do an interview. John is a former member of the US Air Force and was on active duty in Alaska during part of the Cold War era, and is retired as historian with the US Air Force at Joint Base Fort Richardson/Elmendorf in Anchorage, Alaska. In this first part of a two part interview, John talks about the history of the Cold War in Alaska and Alaska’s role in the Cold War and the impact it had on Alaska and Alaskans. He discusses the strategic importance of Alaska, Alaskan military operations, and the economic, military, social, and political implications of the Cold War in Alaska. He also talks about the impact of the military on Alaska 's Native people and the legacy of the Cold War.	2014-18-14_PT.1	Cold War in Alaska	Sep 21, 2016
John Haile Cloe, Part 2	This is a continuation of an interview with John Haile Cloe on September 21, 2016 with Karen Brewster at the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, Alaska. In this second part of a two part interview, John talks about conducting research on and writing about Alaskan military history, the potential for a "new Cold War,"and impacts and legacy of the original Cold War. He also talks about the defense of military bases in Alaska, anti-aircraft weaponry, and surveillance. John also discusses the story of the Nike Missile Site disaster in Anchorage after the 1964 Earthquake.	2014-18-14_PT.2	Cold War in Alaska	Sep 21, 2016

As Interviewer

Interview Title	Archive #: Oral History	Project	Abstract
John Andrews	84-24	Pioneer Aviators	John Andrews was interviewed by John Haile Cloe on October, 13, 1982 in Anchorage, Alaska. In this interview, John discusses the conditions in the Aleutians during World War II, what it was like to fly there, and specifically talks about the crash of the B-24D airplane on Atka Island and their subsequent rescue.The Anchorage Daily News newspaper published an article about the B-24D airplane crash on December 28, 2008.