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‘Mel’ Wheadon (or ‘Doc’ as he was long-known) was born in Sacramento, CA, on March 29, 1915, attended St. John’s Military Academy, John Marshall High School, and Loyola University. He later went to Davenport, Iowa, where he attended Palmer Chiropractic Academy and received his Chiropractic degree just as the United States became involved in World War II with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
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His unit soon loaded their P-40 aircraft aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, and sailed from Hawaii to Efate Island, in the New Hebrides group where, under Major Kermit Tyler, they were assigned briefly to the 318th Fighter Group, 7th Air Force and Lt. Wheadon became Post Exchange officer as an additional duty, trying to maintain a supply of the most basic items ... like tallow candles, because no electricity was yet available on their remote island.
Lt. Wheadon and the 44th Squadron moved to Guadalcanal on January 20, 1943, where they were melded to train with the members of the 339th Squadron, 347th Group, until April ’43 when the 44th became part of 18th Fighter Group and both Groups joined 13th Air Force. The 44th had begun flying combat missions in their P-40s on January 21st, the day following their arrival at Henderson Field. One week later, on January 27th, Lt. Wheadon, who was flying with Captain Kenneth Taylor, both fired into a mass of Zeroes attacking their Henderson Field base, and each downed a Zero .. the first of seven victories for ‘Doc’ Wheadon. He counted 69 holes in his P-40 when he landed from that mission.
In another encounter, on February 1, 1943, Major Tyler, Capt. Taylor, Lt. Westbrook and Lt. Wheadon ran into twelve Zeroes near Savo Island, and Wheadon was wounded in the leg when his P-40 was riddled by large caliber shells from an attacking Zero, and a piece of schrapnel hit his leg. His severely damaged aircraft was wrecked on landing, but he was taken to their little field hospital where his wounds were treated, and he was later evacuated from Henderson temporarily until his leg could heal.
Wheadon returned to Guadalcanal and resumed his combat flying on April 24, 1943, and was pleased to find that their tents had acquired cement floors and electric lights since he had left. He flew dozens of ‘somewhat routine’ patrol and escort missions without encountering any really ‘startling’ actions ... until July 1, 1943.
On that day, as Doc Wheadon described it in his diary, he became “Ace in a Day”:
“We were on patrol to Rendova,
covering our surface shipping from about 5000 feet, when Westbrook called
‘Tally-ho’ and I saw a flight of enemy dive bombers ahead of me
at 12 o’clock, peeling off for a run on our ships. My flight moved
in on them, and we got seven of 
them ... of which I managed to get four.
This action took place close to the water, and was over in just a few minutes,
and there was nothing else to shoot at. Westbrook’s flight found
some action southwest, so we started climbing up and I got on the tail of a
Zero and gave him the works, then chased another and used up all the rest of my
ammunition, when some joker came in and started firing at me. I was at
only 2000 feet by that time, so I couldn’t do much evasion except to stir
the stick – rotate it around the cockpit with both hands, and kick
rudders as hard as I could – first one way, then the other – until
I could sneak into a heavy rain squall and lose him. My flight wound up
with nine that day ... of which five were credited to me!”
The 44th Squadron converted to twin-engined P-38 Lightnings in September 1943 giving up their tired workhorse P-40 Warhawks. As replacement pilots became available, Captain Wheadon returned to the ‘States; he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart, four Air Medals plus numerous campaign ribbons and battle stars. Following the end of the war, he was discharged from the Army Air Force, and returned to civilian life, setting up his long-delayed Chiropractic practice in Bakersfield, CA. He later moved to Toluca Lake, a Los Angeles suburb, where he joined the Hiss Medical clinic.
Wheadon married for a second time in 1967, to Nina Ruth Fritch, his loving life-partner who shared his interest in RV travel, fishing, hunting, skiing, family and friends. A routine angiogram test caused a mild stroke, after which he retired from his practice, but continued to enjoy his hobbies and the people he met. He managed an occasional reunion with his former wartime compatriots of the 44th Fighter Squadron for almost forty years, and enjoyed comparing war stories.
Finally, after a long and productive 83 years of life, ‘Doc’ Wheadon died peacefully on the afternoon of June 26, 1998. His death resulted from a massive intra-cranial hemorrhage which he suffered that morning just as he arose from sleep. He lapsed into a coma shortly after 9:00 a.m. and never regained awareness. His wife Nina, his son Wes, daughter Jamielle and grandson, Brook were at his bedside when his spirit ‘headed West’ to Pilot’s Valhalla, to join his heroic wartime friends.
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