Samuel Elbert White was born in Virginia. He served in the U.S. Army Air Service with balloon companies during World War I. White enlisted on September 21, 1917 at St. Louis, Missouri, and began his training at balloon and flight schools in Missouri, Texas, and Nebraska. He received his commission on January 31, 1918. He was stationed at Kelly Field, Texas for the early part of the year then received orders to travel to the Aviation Concentration Camp and Supply Depot in Morrison, Virginia. He left for Europe from Newport News, Virginia on April 23, 1918 aboard the U.S. Transport Siboury. They arrived at Brest, France on May 7 and from there traveled to Coëtquidan. White moved about the country extensively for the first few months, completing additional training before being stationed near Raulecourt (Meuse), France. According to his military record, White served with the 3rd, 5th, and 9th Balloon Companies in France from April 1918 to June 1919. He participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives toward the end of the war, and appears to have remained after the armistice as part of the occupation forces. In August 1919, White was honorably discharged from service at Camp Dodge, Iowa, having attained the rank of second lieutenant in the Air Service.

He later married Alma Gertrud Grundman. White worked as a west coast sales manager for the Dobeckmun Company, including selling plastics that were used to cover Boeing aircraft. He died sometime around 1967.

Sources and further reading:

Biographical note derived from collection materials.

S.W. Ovitt and L.G. Bowers, eds. The Balloon Section of the American Expeditionary Forces. London : A.H. Stockwell, [1939].

Center of Military History, United States Army. Order of Battle of the United States Land Forces in the World War - Zone of the Interior: Directory of Troops, vol. 3, pt. 3. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988.