Retired National Guard general, wife among Metrorail dead

ARLINGTON, VA, UNITED STATES

06.24.2009

Story by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill 

National Guard Bureau

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ARLINGTON, Va. — A former District of Columbia National Guard commanding general, who on Sept. 11, 2001, ordered jets to scramble to protect the nation's capital, died in the June 22 Metrorail crash in Washington.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. David Wherley and his wife, Ann, a mortgage banker, both 62, died in the crash, said Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, the current commanding general of the D.C. National Guard.

"We are all deeply saddened by this sudden and tragic loss of Gen. Wherley and his wife, Ann," said Schwartz. "I am personally grieved by this unbelievable tragedy. David Wherley and Ann were two of the best people you could ever want to know. This community will grieve, as will the entire National Guard throughout the country, who knew and loved them both."

At least seven other people were killed in the crash, according to local officials.

"He was a good friend and a mentor," said Army Brig. Gen. Barbaranette Bolden, the commander of the Land Component Command for the D.C. National Guard, who worked with Wherley for two decades. "He was one of those people who was about the business, but he believed in taking care of his troops. There was no question he would stop what he was doing to help."

As commanding general of Joint Force Headquarters of the D.C. National Guard from 2003 until his retirement a year ago, Wherley was responsible for operational readiness and command and control of the 2,500 Citizen-Soldiers and -Airmen of the D.C. Army and Air National Guard.

He was "as fine a public servant as anyone I have ever met," D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said at a June 23 press conference.

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton recalled a close relationship strengthened by the transformation of the D.C. National Guard from a strategic reserve to an operational force during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

"He was special because he became one of us, instead of the general who commanded our National Guard," Norton told The Washington Post. "I remember how proudly he told me that he and his wife had bought a condominium in the District so they could become residents."

Neighbors saw Wherley walk to and from the D.C. Armory, where he worked.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu said Wherley's work with her on the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program "changed the lives of thousands of at-risk children. ... He served our nation with distinction. Gen. Wherley was not only the quintessential citizen-Soldier, he also made valuable contributions to our community."

Wherley was also a member of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission that helped bring baseball back to the nation's capital.

Wherley was commander of the 113th Wing at Andrews Air Force Base on 9/11.

"Most of our members have lived in the D.C. area for much of their lives," Wherley said a few days later, according to The Washington Examiner. "To be patrolling and looking down on their homes, that has been an emotional moment."

Using classified communications channels, Wherley got oral instructions from the White House giving his pilots discretion to shoot down any threatening aircraft, The Washington Post reported.

"They said challenge them, try to turn them away; if they don't turn away, use whatever force is necessary to keep them from hitting buildings downtown," Wherley told the newspaper.

"I share in the huge grief of the entire 113th Wing," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Jeff Johnson, current commander of the unit. "Dave and Ann were an integral part of the history of the 113th Wing, and more importantly, an integral part of our family. There are no words."

Wherley was commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Fordham University ROTC program in New York in 1969.

Career highlights included command of two flying squadrons, staff assignments and a deployment as deputy operations group commander for fighters at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Wherley was a command pilot with more than 5,000 hours of flying time accumulated in a 39-year military career.

"Gen. Wherley would say the most satisfaction he had was being able to make a difference, not only in the organization and the units he served in and commanded, but in the individual lives of Soldiers and Airmen he was able to mentor," a D.C. National Guard statement said.

The couple is survived by a son, David, who is an NCO in the U.S. Army Golden Knights, and a daughter, Betsy. They had one grandchild.