Wyatt Rainey Blassingame (6 February 1909-1985), a.k.a. W.B. Rainey, was the author of more than 600 short stories and articles for national magazines, four adult novels and dozens of juvenile nonfiction books. Four of his juvenille nonfiction books were written for the Landmark book series: The French Foreign Legion, The U.S. Frogmen of World War II, Combat Nurses of World War II, and Medical Corps Heros of World War II.

He was born in Demopolis, Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, on 6 February 1909 to Wyatt Childs Blassingame (a teacher) and Maude Lurton Blassingame. He married Gertrude Olsen in 1936 and had two daughters, Peggy and April. He served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and received a Bronze Star and a Presidential Unit Citation

Presidential Unit Citation

The Presidential Unit Citation is a senior unit award granted to military units which have performed an extremely meritorious or heroic act, usually in the face of an armed enemy...

. He was educated at Howard College

Howard College

Howard College is a community college with its main campus in Big Spring, Texas and branch campuses in San Angelo and Lamesa....

, the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

, and New York University

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, graduating in 1952.

Mr. Blassingame made every effort to make his books as accurate as possible, and disapproved of fictionalizing juvenile history merely for the benefit of drama. Many of his books were chosen as Junior Book-of-the-Month selections, Junior Literary Guild

Junior Literary Guild

The Junior Literary Guild was the name of a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature that has become the contemporary Junior Library Guild. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, which was an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and Harold...

 selections and other honors. He died in his Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

home in 1985.