This 1950 Cadillac Series 62 was purchased new by Brigadier General William S. Rader and his wife, Major Stephanie Rader, both World War II veterans. Mr. Rader participated in both the Pacific and European theaters as a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot, flying 17 reconnaissance missions in the Battle of Midway and, later in the war, serving as Flight Commander of the 368th Bomb Squadron in England, where he flew an impressive 72 combat missions, earning a Silver Star in 1943 after completing an unescorted mission deep in enemy territory despite losing two engines. In addition to the Silver Star, he earned a Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal.

Mrs. Rader’s military record was just as impressive. A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in chemistry, at the outset of World War II she volunteered to join the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and was one of the first 80 accepted. She was one of the first 440 women selected for Officer Candidate School, earning her the rank of Captain. Mrs. Rader was eventually recruited by the Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA. The OSS assigned her to Warsaw in the fall of 1945, where she worked under the cover of a US embassy clerk position while she traveled around Poland gathering information on Soviet troop movements for the OSS, in addition to handling classified courier assignments between Warsaw and Berlin. She is considered one of the most successful intelligence agents in post-war Poland and was nominated by her superiors for a Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star. Sadly, she received neither but was, however, awarded an Army Commendation Medal. In 2012 she was the inaugural recipient of the Virginia Hall Award by the OSS Society, and in 2016 the US Army posthumously awarded her the Legion of Merit.

Following World War II, the couple married in 1946. Mr. Rader remained in the military while Mrs. Rader retired from her military role but accompanied her husband to various duty postings. Mr. and Mrs. Rader purchased this Cadillac from Akers Oldsmobile-Cadillac in Alexandria, Virginia, on 22 June 1950. It left the factory finished in two-tone Hampden Blue and Horizon Blue. The Cadillac was further optioned with a Synchromatic radio and speaker, automatic heater, fog lights, whitewall tires, and Group D accessories, which included license frames, windshield washer, wheel discs, undercoat, and Blue Coral, a period multi-step paint wax.

The Cadillac would accompany the Raders in Virginia while stationed at Bolling Air Force Base and later in Wyoming, when Mr. Rader served as Commander of the 13th Strategic Missile Division at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne. By 1965 he became Deputy Commander of Strategic Air Command's 1st Strategic Aerospace Division at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. In May 1968, Mr. Rader officially retired after 28 years of military service with a rank of Brigadier General, with the couple settling in Virginia. By 1969 the Cadillac was presumably retired from daily use as mileage logs with the accompanying Ward’s Motor Record Book became much less frequent. In 1994 the Raders entrusted the car to White Post Restoration in Virginia, with the restoration completed in 1998.

During the Raders' 57-year ownership they recorded fuel fill-ups, oil changes, and repairs made to the car. Clearly the couple cherished this Cadillac, and while Mr. Rader would pass in 2003, Mrs. Rader would not part with it until 2007, when it was donated to the Gilmore Car Museum. Today it is offered with 809 miles on the odometer since restoration, as of cataloguing time.

Beautifully restored and cherished for 57 years by a decorated World War II veteran couple, this special Cadillac offers its next caretaker the opportunity to enjoy a car distinguished beyond all others, from a marque celebrated as the standard of the world.