Novelist David Westheimer wrote "Von Ryan's Express" (made into a film, Von Ryan's Express (1965)) with Frank Sinatra), "My Sweet Charlie" (adapted into a play which was staged on Broadway and then turned into a TV movie, My Sweet Charlie (1970), starring Patty Duke, who won an Emmy Award), "Summer on the Water," "Sitting It Out" and "Delay En Route."

He served in the US Army Air Force during World War II as a navigator aboard a B-24 bomber. His plane was shot down by Italian fighter planes and he spent 28 months in Italian and German POW camps. He based his novel "Von Ryan's Express" on his experiences as a POW.

He was also an editor and columnist for The Houston Post.