From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hewitt Terrell Wheless (October 31, 1913 – September 7, 1986) was a United States Air Force officer known for his heroism on a bombing mission against Japanese ships in the Philippines on December 14, 1941, a week after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and mentioned by name in Franklin Roosevelt's Fireside Chat on April 28, 1942. In 1947,