Military history news

Sheldon Goldberg, who passed away in December 2010, was a well-known and much respected member of the Air Force community, serving as an Air Force historian and government archivist during a career spanning more than four decades.

Sheldon was born and raised in New York City as the only child of Hyman (“Harry”) and Nellie Stiffman Goldberg. They married in Montreal during 1931 shortly after moving there from Germany, and soon after, they relocated to the Bronx in New York City.

After completing his formative years in New York, and receiving BA and MA degrees from New York-area universities, Sheldon began his civilian career as a historian for the U.S. Air Force in 1964 when he joined HQ Eighth Air Force’s history staff at Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Three years later he moved to HQ Strategic Air Command (SAC) in Omaha, Nebraska, where he served as its archivist for nearly 20 years.

In May 1986, he transferred to the Air Force History Office in Washington, D.C. as its Declassification Specialist. Assigned to the reference branch, Sheldon became the focal point for many inquiries both within and outside of the U.S. government. He was responsible for responding to many critical, and sometime notorious inquiries, including OPERATION TAILWIND and the No Gun Ri controversy.