[2] After enrolling briefly at the University of Wyoming, Hathaway left school in early 1942 to enlist in the Army Air Corps following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, and was trained as a radio operator and gunner.

He was assigned to the Eighth Air Force's 401st Bomb Group, flying B-17 Bombers from England, and took part in 35 combat missions over France and Germany, with his unit often suffering heavy casualties.

[3] On one mission under General Jimmy Doolittle over Leipzig, Germany, Hathaway's plane and crew took heavy enemy fire while making a series of three runs at their target, an oil refinery.

After managing to return to base, the crew counted 115 holes in their B-17 from Nazi fighter-plane rounds and anti-aircraft flak.

[2] For his service during the War, Hathaway was the recipient of the French Croix de Guerre, U.S. Presidential Unit Citations, and five Air Medals.

[3] After his discharge from the Army Air Corps, Hathaway enrolled at the University of Nebraska, where he earned a bachelor's degree.

These included the creation of an Arts Council supported entirely by donated funds to promote arts in the state; the establishment of an Indian Council to improve the welfare of Native Americans living on reservations in the State and to build markets for Native American crafts and other products, such as woven rugs and jewelry; and the extensive updating and expansion of government mental health programs and facilities statewide.

[6] During his brief tenure at the Department of the Interior, he was responsible for moving the federal coal leasing program forward.

[3] Hathaway died in Cheyenne, Wyoming, following a lengthy illness, on October 4, 2005, having been preceded in death by his wife Bobby in 2004.