Biographical/historical information

George Vernon Holloman was born September 17, 1902, in Rich Square, North Carolina. After high school, he worked with the Marconi Company (later Radio Corporation of America) and then attended North Carolina State College and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He joined the Army and later transferred to the Army Air Corps. He attended advanced engineering school at Chanute Field in Illinois and became the head of one of eleven Instrument and Navigation laboratories. A new laboratory was built at Wright Field (Dayton, Ohio), called Special Weapons Unit, and Colonel Holloman took command of it. He also had some involvement with the development of the first atomic bomb. He was transferred to the Pacific Theatre in March 1945 ultimately serving as Deputy Chief of Staff of the 20th Air Force in Guam. He died in a plane crash over Formosa (now Taiwan) on March 19, 1946.

Source: North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NC DNCR) website. Accessed January 29,2026.

Scope and arrangement

Collection (1945-1951, 1981) of newspaper clippings, photographic prints, and a postcard relating to the life of U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel George Vernon Holloman.

He served (1942-1945) as chief of the Air Technical Service Command (ATSC) at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, where he developed automatic landing and flying systems, and other advanced technologies. He was then sent to the Pacific Theatre as Deputy Chief of Staff of the 20th Air Force in Guam. He died in a plane crash over Formosa (now Taiwan) in 1946.

Two photographs are portraits of Colonel Holloman in uniform and the other photographs are related to the ceremony for highway marker (honoring Holloman) erected in 1951 in Holloman's hometown Rich Square, North Carolina. Clippings (1945, 1951, 1981) track his career from his work at Wright Field to the Pacific Theatre on a secret mission to his death in 1946 in a plane crash over Formosa. The postcard is written while he is serving in Guam and he mentions touring with a general through several Asian countries.

Administrative information

Custodial History

January 28, 2026, 0.05 cubic feet; Collection (1945-1951, 1981) of newspaper clippings, photographic prints, and a postcard relating to the life of U.S. Army Air Corps colonel, who served (1942-1945) as chief of the Air Technical Service Command (ATSC) at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, where he developed automatic landing and flying systems, and other advanced technologies. He was then sent to the Pacific Theatre as Deputy Chief of Staff of the 20th Air Force in Guam. He died in a plane crash over Formosa in 1946. Clippings are also related to the erection of an historical marker in 1951 to Holloman in his hometown, Rich Square, North Carolina. Probably donated by Emily Boyce.

Processing information

Processed January 2026 by Martha Elmore

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