A Sailor's Story: Lieutenant Robert Anson Heinlein - Interwar

 


Lieutenant Robert Anson Heinlein was born on July 7, 1907, in Butler, Missouri. He was raised in Kansas City and attended Kansas City Central High School, where he was a member of the Junior Reserve Officer Training (JROTC) and enlisted in the Missouri National Guard during his senior year. He graduated in 1924 and immediately petitioned for US Naval Academy admission.

His first petition was denied, as his brother also attended the Academy. However, after enlisting the help of Senator James A. Reed, Lieutenant Robert A. Heinlein was accepted in 1925. He graduated as an engineer in 1929.

Lieutenant Robert A. Heinlein first served aboard the USS Lexington as a radio operator before being reassigned to the USS Roper as the gunnery officer. His military career was cut short in 1934 after he contracted tuberculosis.

Released from service, Lieutenant Heinlein briefly enrolled in graduate school at the University of California before working as a real estate agent, a silver miner, and a stone mason. He was also active in Upton Sinclair's End Poverty Movement and helped publish the EPIC Newsletter. Lieutenant Heinlein also worked with Sinclair's unsuccessful political campaign for the 1934 Governor of California.


Lieutenant Robert A. Heinlein turned to writing in 1939, selling his first story, "Life Line," to Astounding Science Fiction. He also hosted a literary society in the Los Angeles area.

At the outset of WWII, Lieutenant Heinlein returned to government service, working as a civilian engineer in Naval Aircraft Materials at the Philidelphia shipyards, and tried to formulate a defense against enemy kamikaze pilots.

Lieutenant Heinlein was deeply affected by the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and in 1945, he began writing science fiction as a social commentary, publishing "The Green Hills of Faith" in the 1949 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. 

He was a prolific writer, publishing over 150 works, and is most known for "Strangers in a Strange Land" and "Starship Troopers."

Lieutenant Robert Anson Heinlein died on May 8, 1988, and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Carmel by the Sea.



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a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller currently living in Salem, Virginia. 

In addition to the travel writings at www.takethebackroads.com, you can also read her book reviews at www.riteoffancy.com and US military biographies at www.everydaypatriot.com

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Location: Kansas City, MO, USA

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