Name/Title
Letter From Elisha "Smokey" Stover to Benjamin Stover Dated February 7, 1944Scope and Content
In this letter Elisha "Smokey" Stover is responding to Ben's recent V-mail and expresses his excitement over being back in a fighter squadron, how much work it is and how he hopes to add to his score of air victories. Smokey asks his brother Benjamin how his service in the Atlantic theater is going, and Smokey mentions a woman who he is interested in pursuing romantically.Context
Elisha Terrill "Smokey" Stover was a F4F Wildcat pilot with VF-8 on the USS Hornet (CV-8) and VF-5 aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and later at Guadalcanal in 1942 where he downed 4 Japanese planes earning the Air Medal. Transferred aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-10) as a Fighter Director Officer in CIC in 1944, he appeared in scenes of "The Fighting Lady" and later returned to flight status with VF-5 when he was shot down over Truk Atoll on February 16, 1944.Collection
Smokey Stover CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2017.001Source or Donor
Daniel M. StoverAcquisition Method
GiftUpdate Date
October 13, 2026
