Lee Van Atta
International News Service (INS) War Correspondent during World War II

Background
Lee V. Lundquist was born July 22, 1922 in San Francisco. During the late 1930s, he was an actor in Hollywood and changed his name to Lee Van Atta.

He appeared in Hollywood films including Too Many Parents (1936) at age 14 as an uncredited cadet, Undersea Kingdom (1936) playing Billy Norton, Second Wife (1936) playing Kenneth Carpenter, Jr., Beware of Ladies (1937) at age 15 an uncredited newspaper boy, Dick Tracy (1937) playing Junior, Captains Courageous (1937) as an uncredited boy, Dangerous Holiday (1937) as uncredited Eddie, The Affairs of Annabel (1938) at age 16 playing Robert Fletcher and Twelve Crowded Hours (1939) at age 17 as uncredited cowboy.

Wartime History
During World War II, Van Atta was a war correspondent for International News Service (INS) in the Pacific.

On August 17, 1943 he was a passenger aboard a B-25 from 3rd Bomb Group (3rd BG) on a mission against Wewak but aborted the mission before reaching the target.

On August 18, 1943 he was a passenger aboard a B-25 from 3rd Bomb Group (3rd BG) on a mission against Wewak.

On October 12, 1943 he flew as a passenger aboard a B-25D "Notre Dame De Victoire" 41-30316 pilot Major John "Jock" P. Henebry on a low level strike against Rabaul. Afterwards, he wrote an article about the experience, Eyewitness Story of Rabaul Smash.

During April 1944 interviewed Major Richard I. Bong after he broke the record of World War I ace Edward "Eddie" Rickenbacker and co-authored a five part article about America's ace of aces that was syndicated across the United States during May 1944.

In early April 1944, photographed standing near A-20G "Barry's Baby I.N.S." 42-86768 with Major Kenneth E. Rosebush, 1st Lt. Harold R. Prince, Lt. Colonel John P. "Jock" Henebry (C.O. 3rd BG) and Lee Van Atta. This photograph was not published until June 1, 1944. The plane was named after Barry Faris, editor-in-chief of International News Service by its crew. They got to know Faris when he made a tour of the Pacific fronts in 1943.

On August 24, 1945 in Honolulu returning to Manila then to Japan to report to GHQ in Tokyo.

On September 2, 1945 Van Atta was aboard USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay to witness and report on the official surrender of Japan.

Memorials
Van Atta passed away on February 15, 2002 at age 79 in Carrollton, Texas. He has no known grave.

References
IMDb Lee Van Atta (1922–2002)
Eyewitness Story of Rabaul Smash by Lee Van Atta October 12, 1943
The First Daylight Raid on the Philippines: A Reporter's Account by Lee Van Atta September 1, 1944

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