He was a member of an eight-man team of journalists who flew bombing missions over Germany with the U.S. Air Force while he was working for the International News Service.
The Writing 69th trained with the Air Force for a week before the first mission, learning skills such as parachuting, adjustment to high-altitudes and weapons.
He later filed a story with his college-town Minnesota newspaper headlined "This local boy didn't make good."
Later Wade missed a chance to fly a mission with the RAF when he lost a coin toss with fellow INS reporter Lowell Bennett.
On the first mission New York Times correspondent Robert Post was killed in action when the plane he was on was shot down over Germany.
He later worked for a decade as the chief for Voice of America's West European bureau in London.