William L. Leverette
American World War II flying ace (1913-2003)
William Lawrence Leverette (September 5, 1913 – April 7, 2003) was a United States Air Force colonel. During World War II, he became a flying ace credited with 11 aerial victories, including seven in one day for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Early life and career
William L. Leverette was born on September 5, 1913, in Palatka, Florida. He earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Clemson University in 1934, and later earned a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from Princeton University in 1948.
In 1939, Leverette joined the United States Army Air Corps. In 1940, he earned his flying wings. Leverette transferred to the new United States Army Air Forces and spent the next few years teaching aerial combat tactics.
World War II
In August 1943, Major Leverette was made the commanding officer of the 37th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, Twelfth Air Force. The 14th Fighter Group flew P-38 Lightnings and was based at Sainte Marie du Zit Airfield in Tunisia. In September, Leverette's fighter group was moved to RAF Gambut 2 near Tobruk, Libya, in order to support operations in the Aegean Sea.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “William L. Leverette” is american World War II flying ace (1913-2003). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through William, Leverette and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american World War II flying ace (1913-2003)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q90631031. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1913, 2003, 1934 and 1948.
Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.
- Event chronology
- Institutional context
- Locating named record creators
Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “William L. Leverette”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow William L. Leverette primary sources, William L. Leverette archive and William research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “William L. Leverette”?
- Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
- Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “William L. Leverette” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.