Carroll "C.V." Vane Glines Jr.

Colonel Carroll Vane Glines, Jr. (USAF, retired)

1920 – 2016

Carroll V. Glines, Jr., called “CV” by all who knew him, passed away peacefully on January 14th, 2016 with family by his side.

Born at home in a 2-story row house in Baltimore, MD, he grew up in Glenolden, PA. An Eagle Scout, he attended the very first National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1937, where he took his first airplane flight and got the idea that his future might lie in aviation. In college he bought a 1/10th share in a Piper Cub and learned to fly. In 1941 he joined the Army Air Corps, where they ‘re-learned’ him how to fly.

Assigned to Enid Army Airfield as a flight instructor, he taught numerous pilots how to fly during the war. Because he had taken Spanish in high school the Army assigned him to teach Mexican, Bolivian and other South Americans to fly, and, as would logically follow, the Chinese too. One student went on to become the President of Bolivia.

During this time his official flight records were maintained by a clerk named Mary Ellen Edwards. He found himself often compelled to ‘double-check’ his records, and in October 1943 he won the hand of his “blue-eyed Oklahoma girl” in marriage. They celebrated 72 wedding anniversaries together, the last one just before her passing in November, 2015.

After the war the Army encouraged its men to earn a little money on the side. Writing was one of the permitted methods. And so began CV’s writing career and reputation as a superlative wordsmith. His first book was “The Complete Guide for the Serviceman’s Wife.” It stemmed from a project he developed to improve enlistment and reenlistment rates by dispelling the myths that wives and prospective wives of servicemen had about military life, and to prepare them for their important role in their husband’s military service. It was a national sensation and even received a tribute from Arthur Godfrey on his television show.

His writing and military leadership eventually led him to the Pentagon where he wrote for the Secretary of the Air Force and the Secretary of Defense, and later became the Chief of the Air Force Magazine and Book Branch. He retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force in 1968 with 6,500 flying hours. It was 27 years, 2 months and 2 days after he was commissioned in the Army Air Corps as a Flying Cadet.

In all, CV published 38 books, almost all of them are aviation non-fiction. He concluded his book writing career with “Those Legendary Piper Cubs.” He considered it closing the loop with where he began in aviation. In addition to the books he wrote at least 800 magazine articles for dozens of publications, and in his post-military career was the editor of three aviation magazines, and a contributing editor for four others. He also wrote the Collier and Grolier Encyclopedia sections on the history of aviation and on the U.S. Air Force.

CV earned great respect and many awards in his writing career and is considered to have written the definitive books on the DC-3 and Piper Cub; on the aviation greats Jimmy Doolittle, Roscoe Turner and Bernt Balchen; on the Doolittle Tokyo Raid, the first flight around the world, Chennault’s 308th Bomb Group, and the conclusive book on the attack on Admiral Yamamoto.

CV treasured his friendship with General Jimmy Doolittle and the men he led on the Tokyo Raid. His association with them began at the annual reunion of Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders in 1962 when they were interviewing authors to write their story. General Doolittle ‘famously’ announced “Gentlemen, I know in this group I have only one vote. My vote is for CV.”

In his 53-year association with the Raiders, he served as their official historian, writing seven books on the Raid, the Raiders and General Doolittle. A mission which he ardently and faithfully pursued was to ensure that the facts of the Raid be maintained and honored; and that inaccuracies, myths and falsifications be swiftly quashed. CV is one of the very few men they have named an Honorary Doolittle Raider.

CV will continue to be esteemed by the aviation, military and writing communities, to whom he made significant and lasting contributions, as well as by his many friends and associates.

He will be missed and lovingly remembered by his children Karen, David and Valerie; and his grandchildren Kevin, Katie, Matt, Stephen and Garrett; and great-grandchildren Mary Grace, Vivian, Ian, Lucy, Gregor and Ryan.

In his honor, contributions are encouraged to:

General James H. Doolittle Scholarship Fund – at the Communities Foundation of Texas www.cftexas.org/doolittle-scholarship-fund

George E. Haddaway Education Fund – at the Communities Foundation of Texas www.cftexas.org/haddaway-educational-fund

Frontiers of Flight Museum – at Dallas Love Field www.flightmuseum.org

General James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle Archives – at the University of Texas at Dallas, McDermott Library, Special Collections Department, History of Aviation Collection www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/doolittle