Vaden S. Pitts, 96, passed away on January 16, 2021 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Vaden was born on October 18, 1924 near Montross, Virginia, in Westmoreland County. He was the youngest of three sons born to Annie M. Childs Pitts and Warner P. Pitts.
After graduating high school, and turning 18, Vaden enlisted in the U.S. Army on November 13, 1942, and was called to active duty in February, 1943. He was assigned the specialty of Aircraft Pilot and attended the Army Air Force Cadet Center (AAFCC) in San Antonio, Texas, with subsequent training at the Army Air Force Flight Training Detachment (AAFFTD) in El Reno, Oklahoma, and the Garden City Army Air Field (GCAAF) in Garden City, Kansas. He completed his training at Frederick Army Air Field (FAAF) in Frederick, Oklahoma where he was discharged as an Aviation Cadet.
Vaden was immediately assigned to the 750th Squadron, 457th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, at Glatton Air Base in England. The Bombardment Group consisted of four squadrons of B-17 bombers: the 748th, 749th, 750th, and 751st. Vaden Pitts was the co-pilot on at least 33 B-17 bombing missions over occupied France and Germany, from January 1945 – April 1945. (There are no records for the last 16 flights the 457th Group flew after April 20, 1945). He flew in the Rhineland Campaign, Ardennes Campaign and the Central Europe Campaign before he was Honorably Discharged on November 21, 1945 with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. Vaden was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Air Campaign Medal with four oak leaf clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Through the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) Vaden attended Randolph Macon College, and went on to receive his Law Degree and Master’s of Law Degree from Washington University (now George Washington University) in Washington, D.C. He was a partner in his own law firm, and practiced defense law in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. As a second career he owned and operated Yellow Cab of Washington D.C. from 1975-1995. In his retirement years, he loved gardening and had an extensive vegetable garden, and was always up for a game of golf.
Survivors include his three daughters; Carolyn Eulalia Pitts, Marianne Wyndal Litzenberger (husband Ambassador Earle D. Litzenberger), Patricia Vaden VanGosen (husband Daniel VanGosen); grandchildren Andrew L. Litzenberger (wife Tara J. Litzenberger), Ashley W. Litzenberger, Emily E. Metcalf; and two great grandchildren Zachary J. Litzenberger and Eliana M. Litzenberger. He is also survived by his former wife M. Eulalia Edwards Pitts, and two nephews William M. Pitts (wife Meredith Ann Pitts) and Stephen B. Pitts (wife Deborah Pitts). Vaden’s ashes are interred at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
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