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Title: Keith E. Eiler papers
Date (inclusive): 1880-2003
Collection Number: 2005C38
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
30 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 6 card file boxes, 1 motion picture film reel, 6 sound cassettes
(13.6 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Correspondence, notes, collected writings, photocopies of military records and collected correspondence, printed matter, and
photographs related to the career of General Albert C. Wedemeyer, commander of American forces in China during World War II.
Used as research material for the book
Wedemeyer on War and Peace (Stanford, 1987) edited by Keith E. Eiler, and for an unpublished biography of Wedemeyer. Digital copies of select records
also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
Creator:
Eiler, Keith E., 1920-
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2005.
[Identification of item], Keith E. Eiler papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Digital copies of select records also available at
https://digitalcollections.hoover.org.
| Box Nos. | Series |
|---|---|
| 1-16, 18, 20-31 | Albert C. Wedemeyer file, 1880-2003. Includes correspondence, interviews, notes, printed matter, and military records related to Wedemeyer and used as research for an unfinished biography and Wedemeyer on War and Peace. Contains three sub-series: general, subject file, and files on individuals. |
| 17-20 | Wedemeyer on War and Peace file, 1938-1987. Includes drafts, research, notes, and correspondence related to the manuscript. |
| 32-37 | Card files and note cards, undated. Contains notes, address files, bibliographies, and a chronology of Wedemeyer's life. |
| 1, 31 | Sound recordings and motion picture films, 1974-1987, undated. Sound recordings of interviews and the film "Catalina scenes, Echols-Curl." |
Keith E. Eiler was a scholar of military mobilization and United States military history and the biographer of General Albert
C. Wedemeyer. In addition to his academic life as an American historian and Hoover Institution fellow, Eiler was a lieutenant
colonel in the United States Army. He was born in Monowi, Nebraska, in 1920. After graduating from West Point in 1944, Eiler
served in the 80th Infantry Division for the Third U.S. Army in Europe during World War II. After being wounded in the Battle
of the Bulge, Eiler became an engineer for the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. From 1950 to 1951, Eiler was the aide-de-camp
to General Wedemeyer during Wedemeyer's term as commander of the Sixth U.S. Army at the Presidio of San Francisco.
Before retiring from military service in 1965, Eiler served with the Eighth U.S. Army in Korea, commanded an engineer combat
battalion in Germany, became the assistant director of military construction with the Office of the Chief of Engineers, and
served with the army general staff in the Office of the Chief of Staff and the headquarters of the Army Forces Far East in
Tokyo. In addition, Eiler was an instructor and assistant professor of mathematics at West Point from 1954 to 1958.
As the biographer of General Wedemeyer, Eiler conducted research at the Hoover Institution after Wedemeyer's papers were deposited
in the archives, becoming a Hoover fellow in 1983. In 1987, Eiler edited
Wedemeyer on War and Peace, a selection of Wedemeyer's writings that Eiler called a "warm-up for the biography" in a letter to Joseph Alsop (box 7,
folder 7). Although Eiler never finished his biography of Wedemeyer, he conducted extensive research on Wedemeyer's life,
often visiting Wedemeyer to interview him.
In 1997, Eiler published
Mobilizing America: Robert P. Patterson and the War Effort, 1940-1945, which won the Hoover Institution's Uncommon Book Award in 1999. Eiler passed away in 2005 at the age of 85.
Sources:
Bethell, Tom. "Keith Eiler, Officer and Gentleman." Hoover Digest 2006. Accessed through: http://www.hoover.org/research/keith-eiler-officer-and-gentleman
"Hoover Institution Research Fellow Keith E. Eiler dies at age 85." Accessed through: http://www.hoover.org/press-releases/hoover-institution-research-fellow-keith-e-eiler-dies-age-85
Scope and Content of Collection
The Keith E. Eiler papers contain Eiler's research and writings on the career of General Albert C. Wedemeyer, commander of
American forces in China during World War II.
The
Albert C. Wedemeyer file consists of Eiler's research materials for his unfinished biography on Wedemeyer and the book
Wedemeyer on War and Peace. The research materials and related documents are divided into three groups: general, subject file, and files on individuals.
As Wedemeyer's biographer and friend, Eiler often met with the general to discuss Wedemeyer's life and views (box 5, folders
5-6). In addition to interviewing Wedemeyer, Eiler spoke to many individuals associated with Wedemeyer at various stages of
his life, including West Point classmates and those who served with him in World War II. These interviews, along with correspondence
and subject material, can be found in the files on individuals. Although these research files mainly contain photocopies of
Wedemeyer's correspondence, printed matter, photocopied military documents, or the correspondence of Eiler concerning his
research, the files also contain a number of original documents related to Wedemeyer and his family. Since Eiler conducted
much of his research at the Hoover Institution, many of his notes were taken on note paper with the Hoover Institution letterhead,
and photocopies of documents often contain a Hoover copyright statement.
In 1987, Eiler was the editor of a book of Wedemeyer's writings. The
Wedemeyer on War and Peace
file contains drafts of the manuscript, correspondence, research, corrections by Robert Hessen, and notes.
Additional research on Wedemeyer, including a detailed chronology of his life, can be found in the
Card files and note cards, which also contain a bibliography related to Robert P. Patterson, the subject of Eiler's book
Mobilizing America.
For sound recordings of interviews, as well as the film "Catalina scenes, Echols-Curl," see the
Sound recordings and motion picture films.
The collection contains materials which fall under four series: Albert C. Wedemeyer file,
Wedemeyer on War and Peace file, Card files and note cards, and Sound recordings and motion picture films. Although the collection is not physically
arranged in series, the series description can serve as a guide to the materials.
Albert C. (Albert Coady) Wedemeyer papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Officers
China -- Foreign relations -- United States
United States -- Foreign relations -- China
World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- China
United States. Army
Wedemeyer, Albert C. (Albert Coady), 1896-1989