Frank Pleasants Sturdivant, born June 6, 1917, in Memphis, Tennessee, is a descendent of pioneer Mississippi Delta families who came to the Delta in the 1850's and settled in the Glendora-Minter City area. He is the son of Archibald Young Sturdivant and Bessie Pleasants Sturdivant. They and their families have been cotton farmers for almost a century and a half. Frank had one brother, the late Archibald Young Sturdivant, Jr., and a sister, Mildred Sturdivant McKee, who now resides in Carmel, California. Frank grew up in Glendora, attended a two-room school through the grammar grades and then went to high schools in Webb and Greenwood, both in Mississippi. He graduated from Greenwood High School in 1933 at the age of fifteen. He was very involved in Boy Scouts and won his Eagle Scout award at age fourteen. He attended the University as an engineering student in 1933-34 and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Sturdivant also won the coveted freshman Honorary Society membership in Phi Eta Sigma.

A military career had always appealed to Frank and while at "Ole Miss" he was selected for appointment to the United States Military Academy from the 2nd congressional district of Mississippi, In July 1934, he entered West Point and began the four longest and most difficult years of his life. Although he considered himself less than an exceptional student, he managed to improve his scholarly standing well enough by graduation time to rank 89 out of a class of 301. As a Second Lieutenant he was assigned to the Air Corps Flying School at Randolph Field, Texas. After an exciting year of flying, he graduated as a pilot in 1939 at Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas. War was in the air and he was given an assignment, disappointingly to him, as instructor at the Air Corps Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, also in San Antonio.

It was during this stage of his life that he met his future wife, Dorothy Davenport Samuels. Following a long-range courtship involving many cross-country flights from San Antonio to Memphis, they were finally married in 1940 and settled in San Antonio. Frank was in the initial cadre of flying training officers who, during the next few years, opened bases all over the United States. He moved to the Western Training Command and was cadre for six new airfields. During these busy years he advanced quickly from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel. Somehow, Dorothy had managed to make a home for them at every one of these stations - all situated in out-of-the-way places. Their housing facilities ranged from a single room in a boarding house to a converted henry. Dorothy Jane was born to them in 1942 in Tulare, California. It was a difficult life for a family but they endured in this manner until Frank was sent to the Pacific in 1944.

In 1943, he transferred to heavy bombers, training B-17 crews at Pyote, Texas up until the time the crews flew out to England. Finally in mid-1944, he left the training phase and was assigned to a B-29 Bomb Group as Deputy Group Commander. Six months later in January of 1945, the 39th Group began movement to Guam in the Marinas Islands to participate in the aerial assault of Japan. In July, he was promoted to Colonel and became the 20th Air Force liaison officer in Tokyo during and after the signing of the Japanese surrender in September 1945. Being a regular Army officer, he was not allowed to return home during demobilization, but instead was transferred to the Philippines in various air operations assignments, culminating in his elevation to commander of the 6th Bomb Group of B-29's at Clark Field. At last in 1946, his family was able to join him and they remained together in the Philippines until 1948.

There followed interesting assignments to Air Force Headquarters, The Air War College, Staff Air Command and Staff School, and to the National War College. It was during this time that their son, Thomas Rogers Sturdivant, was born.

Staff assignments seemed inevitable although he yearned for a combat unit command. After several months of cajoling everyone he knew, he left the War College for assignment to the Strategic Air Command as Base Commander of Forbes Air Force Base, Topeka, Kansas. His next transfer was to Alaska as SAC liaison officer for six months. His hopes and aspirations were finally realized when, in 1953, he was named Commander of the 341st Bomb Wing of B-47 aircraft at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas. This came at a crucial time when SAC was attaining an intercontinental nuclear bombing capability and the B-47, a six-engine jet bomber, was the only one with atomic weaponry that the United States had. It was equipped for in-flight refueling and remained the backbone of this country's nuclear delivery capability during the Cold War of the 1950's. Training this Wing of B-47's was, perhaps, Frank's most challenging yet fulfilling assignment.

In 1957, still at Abilene, he took command of the 819th Air Division, which consisted of two Wings of B-47 aircraft, the Base Squadron and other assorted support units. This to Frank was the culmination of many years of persistence and hard work and was a most satisfying assignment.

In 1959, after 25 years in the military, he requested retirement so that he could return home to the family business of farming. It would be a change of vocation that would present many challenges. He had a complete lack of knowledge of cotton farming as well as the necessary experience to deal with employees and the inherent problems they posed. Though Frank was proficient in dealing with military personnel, this was entirely different. Consequently, under his 72-year-old father, he began training for this second career and a conversion to the civilian way of doing things. This father-son relationship was a close and happy one at a time that Frank and Dorothy and the children ware making the adjustment to country life. With Jane a junior in high school and Tom getting ready to begin first grade, the problems of farm and family kept them busy.

Upon his father's death in 1964, Frank took over the farming operation - Eutaw Plantation of Minter City. Like all other farmers, he and his family are striving to remain abreast of the technological changes, as well as the financial pressures of that industry.  Each day brings new and greater challenges.

Daughter, Jane, is now married and living in Fort Walton, Florida, and has two children about to graduate from Florida State University. Son, Tom, is also married and is presently running the family operation at Minter City. He has two boys, ages 12 and 17, who, it is hoped, will carry on the family farming tradition.

Sturdivant has been active in community affairs, serving on various committees of the Delta Council, Sunnyside Lion's Club, Boy Scouts, the Minter City Board, in various organizations promoting farming interests, and as a member of the Episcopal Church of the Nativity.

Once he retired and he spent his leisure hours with family and friends traveling, golfing and walking the beach at Dauphen Island. Frank felt a great sense of pride, achievement and satisfaction in knowing he has served his family, his community, his church, and his country with honor and distinction.

I was assigned to the initial cadre of the Group in June of 1944, and took initial command until sometime in July or August when Colonel Potter B. Paige arrived in Salina to assume command. Nine or ten of us had already checked out in the B-29 at Alamogordo, New Mexico in July and were to comprise the 39th command, staff and operations jobs. When the crews and maintenance people arrived, we began flight training in a bunch of really raunchy B-29's. All will probably remember the problems we had with engine fires, runaway props and blown "jugs." The flight crews and maintenance personnel were truly dedicated and few realize what a miraculous job they did to keep those aircraft in the air, not to mention the added responsibility of trying to accomplish our required training in the face of these obstacles. Everything seemed to be working against us. Bad weather came early in the fall; it was just about as bad as Kansas can get - rain, wind, cold fronts, snow, and so it went.

This caused us to fall far behind in our training, so it was decided that the Group would go down to Batista Field in Cuba in order to accomplish all that had to be done. We deployed the entire 39th in December and January and were able to catch up on most of our training during our stay there. We, however, were not able to complete fully the flying time, navigation and bombing missions that had been scheduled.

During this time we were also having added problems of command. The Group Commander was seldom at Salina and he never showed up in Cuba to direct the activities of the 39th. Consequently, all of these problems ended up in my lap. We had in addition to the many day-to-day difficulties, the necessary planning for the trip to Cuba, and preparations for the immediate overseas embarkment of the ground echelon as well as that of the flight echelon which would soon follow. Fortunately, we had an exceptional group of staff officers Tommy Thompson, Bill Crumm, Woody Carpenter, and Rob Strong. These people, I am proud to say, rallied together with the flight crews and maintenance personnel to create a close unit relationship and an esprit de corps which was able to compensate for many of our difficulties.

Colonel Paige was relieved of command in early January just before we began our deployment and Colonel Fowler was named as his successor. Colonel Fowler never did appear on the scene either in the States or on Guam and therefore was commander in name only. It was left up to me to complete the Group's training, ship our equipment, receive our aircraft, and deploy the unit overseas. I will admit that I was very disappointed that I didn't get the Group command at that time. They pointed out, that at age 26, and only six years out of the academy, I was considered too young and inexperienced for the job.

As one may remember, we staged at Herington, Kansas and deployed to North Field, Guam via Mather Air Force base, Hickam Field in Hawaii, and Kwajalein. I was aboard the first aircraft, P-2, commanded by Captain Keene.

When we arrived at Guam, newly named Group Commander, Colonel George W. Mundy was on hand to greet us. He proved himself to be a most capable leader whom I respected and liked very much. Your biography of him was really outstanding in that you caught the very essence of his personality. We grew to be close and steadfast friends both there on Guam and continuing later when I took over the 6th Bomb Group at Clark Field, where he was 313th Wing Commander.