Whitlow served in the Second World War and saw aerial combat, initially as a B-24 Liberator pilot with the 458th Bombardment Group. He later piloted P-51 Mustangs on reconnaissance missions with the Eighth Air Force Scouting Group. In 1944, The Los Angeles Times reported on one of his aerial engagements in which he shot down a German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter.Wisecracking Angeleno Marine Keeps Sense of Humor in Battle; Los Angeles Pilot Downs Two Japs in Less Than Minute, Los Angeles Times, p. 8, December 31, 1944. All told, he logged 550 combat hours over the course of one bomber and three fighter tours, and destroyed eight enemy aircraft. Whitlow received the Silver Star, four Distinguished Flying Crosses, and eight Air Medals.
