Curtis LeMay
Curtis LeMay | |
---|---|
March Air Force Base, California, U.S. | |
Buried | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ |
|
Years of service | 1929–1965 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | |
Battles/wars | |
Awards | |
Alma mater | Ohio State University (BS) |
Spouse(s) |
Helen Maitland (m. 1934) |
Children | 1 |
Political party | Republican |
Other political affiliations | American Independent (1968) |
Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American
LeMay joined the
After the war, he was assigned to command
After retiring from the Air Force in 1965, LeMay agreed to serve as pro-
Early life
LeMay was born in
Career
LeMay was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in October 1929. He received a regular commission in the United States Army Air Corps in January 1930. While finishing at Ohio State, he took flight training at Norton Field in Columbus, in 1931–32.[4] On June 9, 1934, he married Helen Maitland.
LeMay became a
When his crews were not flying missions, they were subjected to relentless training, as LeMay believed that training was the key to saving their lives. "You fight as you train" was one of his cardinal rules. It expressed his belief that, in the chaos, stress, and confusion of combat (aerial or otherwise), troops or airmen would perform successfully only if their individual acts were second nature, performed nearly instinctively due to repetitive training. Throughout his career, LeMay was widely and fondly known among his troops as "Old Iron Pants", and the "Big Cigar".[1][8]
World War II
When the U.S. entered
The heavy losses in veteran crews on this and subsequent deep penetration missions in the autumn of 1943 led the Eighth Air Force to limit missions to targets within escort range. Finally, with the deployment in the European theater of the P-51 Mustang in January 1944, the Eighth Air Force gained an escort fighter with range to match the bombers.[10]
In a discussion of a report into high abort rates in bomber missions during World War II, which Robert McNamara suspected was because of pilot cowardice, McNamara described LeMay's character:
One of the commanders was Curtis LeMay—Colonel in command of a B-24 [sic] group. He was the finest combat commander of any service I came across in war. But he was extraordinarily belligerent, many thought brutal. He got the report. He issued an order. He said, 'I will be in the lead plane on every mission. Any plane that takes off will go over the target, or the crew will be court-martialed.' The abort rate dropped overnight. Now that's the kind of commander he was.[11]
In August 1944, LeMay transferred to the
LeMay soon concluded that the techniques and tactics developed for use in Europe against the Luftwaffe were unsuitable against Japan. His
He became convinced that high-altitude
LeMay commanded subsequent B-29 Superfortress combat operations against Japan, including massive incendiary attacks on 67
The first pathfinder airplanes arrived over Tokyo just after midnight on March 10 and marked the target area with a flaming "X". In a three-hour period, the main bombing force dropped 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs, killing 100,000 civilians, destroying 250,000 buildings, and incinerating 16 square miles (41 km2) of the city. Aircrews at the tail end of the bomber stream reported that the stench of burned human flesh permeated the aircraft over the target.[15]
Precise figures are not available, but the strategic bombing campaign against Japan, directed by LeMay between March 1945 and the
LeMay was aware of the implication of his orders.
Presidents
LeMay also oversaw Operation Starvation, an aerial mining operation against Japanese waterways and ports that disrupted Japanese shipping and logistics. Although his superiors were unsupportive of this naval objective, LeMay gave it a high priority by assigning the entire 313th Bombardment Wing (four groups, about 160 airplanes) to the task. Aerial mining supplemented a tight Allied submarine blockade of the home islands, drastically reducing Japan's ability to supply its overseas forces to the point that postwar analysis concluded that it could have defeated Japan on its own had it begun earlier.[7][9]
Japan–Washington flight
LeMay piloted one of three specially modified B-29s flying from Japan to the U.S. in September 1945, in the process breaking several aviation records, including the greatest USAAF takeoff weight, the longest USAAF non-stop flight, and the first ever non-stop Japan–Chicago flight. One of the pilots was of higher rank: Lieutenant General Barney M. Giles. The other two aircraft used up more fuel than LeMay's in fighting headwinds, and they could not fly to Washington, D.C., the original goal.[22] Their pilots landed in Chicago to refuel. LeMay's aircraft had sufficient fuel to reach Washington, but he was directed by the War Department to join the others by refueling at Chicago.[23]
Cold War
Berlin Airlift
After World War II, LeMay was already thinking about
Strategic Air Command
In 1948, he returned to the U.S. to head the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base, replacing Gen George Kenney. When LeMay took over command of SAC, it consisted of little more than a few understaffed B-29 bombardment groups left over from World War II. Less than half of the available aircraft were operational, and the crews were undertrained. Base and aircraft security standards were minimal. Upon inspecting a SAC hangar full of US nuclear strategic bombers, LeMay found a single Air Force sentry on duty, unarmed.[27] After ordering a mock bombing exercise on Dayton, Ohio, LeMay was shocked to learn that most of the strategic bombers assigned to the mission missed their targets by one mile or more. "We didn't have one crew, not one crew, in the entire command who could do a professional job", noted LeMay.[28]
A meeting in November 1948, with Air Force Chief of Staff Hoyt Vandenberg, found the two men agreeing the primary mission of SAC should be the capability of delivering 80% of the nation's atomic bombs in one mission. At the Dualism Conference in December 1948, the Air Force high command rallied behind LeMay's position that the service's highest priority was to deliver the SAC atomic offensive "in one fell swoop telescoping mass and time".[29] "To LeMay, demolishing everything was how you win a war."[30] Towards this aim, LeMay delivered the first SAC Emergency War Plan in March 1949 which called for dropping 133 atomic bombs on 70 cities in the USSR within 30 days. LeMay predicted that World War III would last no longer than 30 days.[31] Air power strategists called this type of pre-emptive strike "killing a nation".[24] However, the Harmon committee released their unanimous report two months later stating such an attack would not end a war with the Soviets and their industry would quickly recover. This committee had been specifically created by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to study the effects of a massive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, within weeks, an ad hoc Joint Chiefs committee recommended tripling America's nuclear arsenal, and Chief of Staff Vandenberg called for enough bombs to attack 220 targets, up from the previous 70.[32]
Upon receiving his fourth star in 1951 at age 44, LeMay became the youngest American four-star general since Ulysses S. Grant. He would also become the longest serving person in that rank in American military history.[33]
In 1954 LeMay remarked to pilot Hal Austin, whose plane had been damaged by a
In 1956 and 1957 LeMay implemented tests of 24-hour bomber and tanker alerts, keeping some bomber forces ready at all times. LeMay headed SAC until 1957, overseeing its transformation into a modern, efficient, all-jet force. LeMay's tenure was the longest over an American military command in nearly 100 years.[34]
The "Airpower Battle"
USAF airpower development and LeMay's style
LeMay was instrumental in SAC's acquisition of a large fleet of new strategic bombers, establishment of a vast aerial refueling system, the formation of many new units and bases, development of a strategic ballistic missile force, and establishment of a strict command and control system with an unprecedented readiness capability. All of this was protected by a greatly enhanced and modernized security force, the Strategic Air Command Elite Guard. LeMay insisted on rigorous training and very high standards of performance for all SAC personnel, be they officers, enlisted men, aircrews, mechanics, or administrative staff, and reportedly commented, "I have neither the time nor the inclination to differentiate between the incompetent and the merely unfortunate".
Life, June 14, 1954, p. 136</ref> Life magazine reported that LeMay once took the co-pilot's seat of a SAC bomber to observe the mission, complete with lit cigar.[35] When asked by the pilot to put out the cigar, LeMay asked why. When the pilot explained that fumes inside the fuselage could explode, LeMay growled, "It wouldn't dare".[35] The incident was used as the basis for a fictional scene in the 1955 film Strategic Air Command. In his controversial and factually disputed[36][37] memoir War's End, Major General Charles Sweeney related an alleged 1944 incident that may have been the basis for the "It wouldn't dare" comment.[38] Sweeney stated that a similar incident occurred in 1944 when a B-29 crew chief reminded General LeMay of his lit cigar while LeMay was undergoing B-29 familiarization with (then-Colonel) Paul Tibbets' 509th Composite Group.
Despite his uncompromising attitude regarding performance of duty, LeMay was also known for his concern for the physical well-being and comfort of his men.[39] LeMay found ways to encourage morale, individual performance, and the reenlistment rate through a number of means: encouraging off-duty group recreational activities,[40][41] instituting spot promotions based on performance, and authorizing special uniforms, training, equipment, and allowances for ground personnel[42] as well as flight crews.
On LeMay's departure, SAC was composed of 224,000 airmen, close to 2,000 heavy bombers, and nearly 800 tanker aircraft.[43]
LeMay was appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in July 1957, serving until 1961.
Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, 1961–1965
Following service as USAF Vice Chief of Staff (1957–1961), LeMay was made the fifth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on the retirement of Gen Thomas White. His belief in the efficacy of strategic air campaigns over tactical strikes and ground support operations became Air Force policy during his tenure as chief of staff.
As Chief of Staff, LeMay clashed repeatedly with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara,
LeMay was not an enthusiast of the ICBM program, considering ballistic missiles to be little more than toys and no substitute for the strategic nuclear bomber force.
Though LeMay lost significant appropriation battles for the
Cuban Missile Crisis
During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, LeMay clashed again with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Defense Secretary McNamara, arguing that he should be allowed to bomb nuclear missile sites in Cuba. He opposed the naval blockade and, after the end of the crisis, suggested that Cuba be invaded anyway, even after the Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles. Kennedy refused LeMay's requests, and the naval blockade was successful.[44]
Strategic philosophy
The memorandum from LeMay, Chief of Staff, USAF, to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, January 4, 1964, illustrates LeMay's reasons for keeping bomber forces alongside ballistic missiles: "It is important to recognize, however, that ballistic missile forces represent both the U.S. and Soviet potential for strategic nuclear warfare at the highest, most indiscriminate level, and at a level least susceptible to control. The employment of these weapons in lower level conflict would be likely to escalate the situation, uncontrollably, to an intensity which could be vastly disproportionate to the original aggravation. The use of
Vietnam War
LeMay's dislike for tactical aircraft and training backfired in the low-intensity conflict of Vietnam, where existing Air Force fighter aircraft and standard attack profiles proved incapable of carrying out sustained tactical bombing campaigns in the face of hostile North Vietnamese antiaircraft defenses. LeMay said, "Flying fighters is fun. Flying bombers is important".[46] Aircraft losses on tactical attack missions soared, and Air Force commanders soon realized that their large, missile-armed jet fighters were exceedingly vulnerable not only to antiaircraft shells and missiles but also to cannon-armed, maneuverable Soviet fighters.
LeMay advocated a sustained strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnamese cities, harbors, ports, shipping, and other strategic targets. His advice was ignored. Instead, an incremental policy was implemented that focused on limited interdiction bombing of fluid enemy supply corridors in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. This limited campaign failed to destroy significant quantities of enemy war supplies or diminish enemy ambitions. Bombing limitations were imposed by President
In his 1965 autobiography (co-written with MacKinlay Kantor), LeMay is quoted as saying his response to North Vietnam would be to demand that "they've got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression, or we're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age. And we would shove them back into the Stone Age with Air power or Naval power—not with ground forces".[47] LeMay subsequently rejected misquotes of the famous "Stone Age" quote.[48] Later, in a Washington Post interview LeMay said that "I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it. I want to save lives on both sides".[49] Etymologyst Barry Popik cites multiple sources (including interviews with LeMay) for various versions of both quotes from LeMay.[50] Nevertheless, the "should" quote remained part of the LeMay legend, and remains widely attributed to him ever after.[48][51]
Some military historians have argued that LeMay's theories were eventually proven correct. Near the war's end in December 1972, President Richard Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II, a high-intensity Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aerial bombing campaign, which included hundreds of B-52 bombers that struck previously untouched North Vietnamese strategic targets, including heavy populated areas in Hanoi and Haiphong. Linebacker II was followed by renewed negotiations that led to the Paris Peace Agreement, appearing to support the claim. However, consideration must be given to significant differences in terms of both military objectives and geopolitical realities between 1968 and 1972, including the impact of Nixon's recognition and exploitation of the Sino-Soviet split to gain a "free hand" in Vietnam and the shift of Communist opposition from an organic insurgency (the Viet Cong) to a conventional mechanized offensive that was by its nature more reliant on industrial output and traditional logistics.[52] In effect, Johnson and Nixon were waging two different wars.
Post-military career
Early political life and developments
Because of his unrelenting opposition to the Johnson administration's Vietnam policy and what was widely perceived as his hostility to Robert McNamara, LeMay was essentially forced into retirement in February 1965. Moving to California, he was approached by conservatives to challenge moderate Republican Thomas Kuchel for his seat in the United States Senate in 1968, but he declined.[53]
Vice presidential candidacy, 1968
For the
In 1968 LeMay threw his support to Wallace and became his vice-presidential running mate on the American Independent Party ticket. The campaign saw Wallace's record on racial segregation heavily scrutinized.[51]
Wallace's staff began to consider LeMay to be "politically tone-deaf" as the former Air Force General made several comments at campaign events speculating about the possibility of nuclear war.[54] LeMay's arguments that the American public had a "phobia" of atomic weapons failed to change the perception that some American voters had of the Wallace-LeMay ticket.[55]
The "bomb them back to the stone age" comment received significant publicity but LeMay disclaimed the comment, saying in a later interview: "I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. I said we had the capability to do it".[49][50]
The Wallace-LeMay AIP ticket received 13.5% of the popular vote, higher than most third party candidacies in the US, and carried five states for a total of 46
Honors
LeMay was honored by several countries for his military service. His U.S. military decorations included the
In 1977, LeMay was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.[57]
The Air Force has the General Curtis E. LeMay Award named in honor of General LeMay, who had a life-long interest in support and quality of life programs provided to Air Force members and their families around the globe. This award recognizes the best large installation-level Force Support Squadron.
Personal life
On June 9, 1934, LeMay married Helen Estelle Maitland (died 1992), with whom he had one child, Patricia Jane LeMay Lodge, known as Janie.[58][59]
Curtis LeMay was also initiated to the York Rite Freemasonry[60][61] in the Lakewood Lodge No. 601, Lakewood, Ohio.[62]
Death
LeMay resided in
Miscellaneous
Amateur radio operator
LeMay was a
LeMay and sports car racing
LeMay was also a sports car owner and enthusiast (he owned an Allard J2); as the "SAC era" began to wind down, LeMay loaned out facilities of SAC bases for use by the Sports Car Club of America,[67] as the era of early street races began to die out. He was awarded the Woolf Barnato Award, SCCA's highest award, for contributions to the Club, in 1954.[67] In November 2006, it was announced that LeMay would be one of the inductees into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2007.[67]
Air Force Academy exemplar
On March 13, 2010, LeMay was named the
Executive Jet Aviation pioneer
In 1964, LeMay became one of the founding board members of
It was the first private business jet charter and aircraft management company in the world.
Judo
Judo's resurgence after the war was due primarily to two individuals, Kyuzo Mifune and Curtis LeMay. The pre-war death of Jigorō Kanō ("the father of judo"), wartime demands on the Japanese, their surrender, postwar occupation, and the martial-arts ban[69] all contributed to a time of uncertainty for judo. As assistant to General Douglas MacArthur during the occupation of Japan, LeMay made practicing judo a routine part of Air Force tours of duty in Japan. Many Americans brought home stories of a "tiny old man" (Mifune) throwing down healthy, young men without any apparent effort. LeMay became a promoter of judo training and provided political support for judo in the early years after the war. For this, he was awarded the license of Shihan. In addition, LeMay promoted judo within the armed forces of the United States.[70]
Rank history
- Training and cadet ranks
LeMay held the following ranks over the course of his Air Force career.[71] LeMay's first contact with military service occurred in September 1924 when he enrolled as a student in the Army ROTC program at Ohio State University. By his senior year, LeMay was listed on the ROTC rolls as a "cadet lieutenant colonel". On June 14, 1928, the summer before the start of his senior year, LeMay accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery Reserve of the U.S. Army. In September 1928, LeMay was approached by the Ohio National Guard and asked to accept a state commission, also as a second lieutenant, which LeMay accepted.
On September 29, 1928, LeMay enlisted in the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet. For the next 13 months, he was on the enlisted rolls of the Regular Army as a cadet and he held commissions in the National Guard and Army Reserve. His status changed on October 2, 1929, when LeMay's Guard and Reserve commissions were terminated. These commissions were revoked after an Army personnel officer, realizing that LeMay was holding officer and enlisted status simultaneously, called him to discuss the matter and LeMay verbally resigned these commissioned ranks over the telephone.[72]
Local insignia | Army ROTC cadet: September 1924 |
Second lieutenant , Field Artillery Reserve: June 14, 1928
| |
Second lieutenant, Ohio National Guard: September 22, 1928 | |
No insignia | Flight cadet, Army Air Corps: September 28, 1928 |
All officer commissions were terminated on October 2, 1929, pending completion of flight training and commissioning as an officer in the Army Air Corps.
- Commissioned ranks
On October 12, 1929, LeMay finished his flight training and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserve. This was the third time he had been appointed a second lieutenant in just under two years. He held this reserve commission until June 1930, when he was appointed as a Regular Army officer in the Army Air Corps.
LeMay experienced slow advancement throughout the 1930s, as did most officers of the seniority-driven Regular Army. At the start of 1940 he was promoted to captain after serving nearly eleven years in the lieutenant grades. Beginning in 1941, LeMay began to receive temporary advancements in grade in the expanding Army Air Forces and advanced from captain to brigadier general in less than four years; by 1944, he was a major general in the Army Air Forces. When World War II ended, he was appointed to the permanent rank of brigadier general in the Regular Army and then promoted to permanent major general rank (two star) when the Air Force became its own separate branch of service. LeMay was simultaneously appointed to temporary three star general rank in the Air Force and promoted to the full rank of general, permanent in the Air Force, in 1951. LeMay held this rank until his retirement in 1965.
Second lieutenant, Air Corps Reserve: October 12, 1929 | |
Second lieutenant, Army Air Corps: February 1, 1930 | |
First lieutenant , Army Air Corps: March 12, 1935
| |
Captain , Army Air Corps: January 26, 1940
| |
Major, Army Air Corps: March 21, 1941 | |
Lieutenant colonel, Army of the United States: January 23, 1942 | |
Colonel, Army of the United States: June 17, 1942 | |
Brigadier general, Army of the United States: September 28, 1943 | |
Major general, Army of the United States: March 3, 1944 | |
Brigadier general, Regular Army: June 22, 1946 | |
Major general, Air Forces of the United States: September 18, 1947 | |
Lieutenant general, Air Forces of the United States: January 26, 1948 | |
Major general, United States Air Force: February 19, 1948 | |
General, United States Air Force: October 29, 1951[73] |
Curtis LeMay retired from the United States Air Force on February 1, 1965, with the rank of full (four star) general.[74]
Further promotions
According to letters in LeMay's service record, while he was in command of SAC during the 1950s several petitions were made by Air Force service members to have LeMay promoted to the rank of
Per the Chief of the Air Force General Officers Branch, in a letter dated February 28, 1962:
It is clear that a grateful nation, recognizing the tremendous contributions of the key military and naval leaders in World War II, created these supreme grades as an attempt to accord to these leaders the prestige, the clear-cut leadership, and the emolument of office befitting their service to their country in war. It is the conviction of the Department of the Air Force that this recognition was and is appropriate. Moreover, appointments to this grade during periods other than war would carry the unavoidable connotation of downgrading of those officers so honored in World War II.
Thus, no serious effort was ever made to promote LeMay to the rank of General of the Air Force, and the matter was eventually dropped after his retirement from active service in 1965.
Awards and decorations
LeMay received recognition for his work from thirteen countries, receiving two badges and thirty-two different medals and decorations.
In 1972, LeMay was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.[75]
Distinguished Service Cross citation
- LeMay, Curtis E.
- Brigadier General (then Colonel), U.S. Army Air Forces
- 4th Bomb Wing, Eighth Air Force
- Date of Action: August 17, 1943
- Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Brigadier General [then Colonel (Air Corps)] Curtis Emerson LeMay, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-17 Heavy Bomber and Commander of the 4th Bomb Wing, Eighth Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 17 August 1943, against enemy ground targets in the European Theater of Operations. General LeMay, fully realizing the extent of the hazards involved, although not required to participate through obligation or reason of duty, undertook the responsibility of directing this mission. In spite of heavy enemy fighter attack and antiaircraft fire, General LeMay led the formation to target, accomplished his mission, and led the return to a friendly base. His courage, coolness, and skill on this occasion were an inspiration to his men and reflect great credit upon himself, the 8th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.[76]
Works
Books
- LeMay, Curtis; Kantor, MacKinlay (1965), Mission with LeMay: My Story, Doubleday, B00005WGR2.
- LeMay, Curtis; Smith, Dale O (1968), America is in Danger, Funk & Wagnalls, B00005VCVX.
- LeMay, Curtis; ISBN 0-07-037160-1.
Film and television appearances
- The Last Bomb (documentary, 1945)
- In the Year of the Pig (documentary, 1968)
- The World at War (documentary TV series, 1974)
- Reaching for the Skies (documentary TV series, 1988)
- Race for the Superbomb (documentary, 1999)
- JFK (film, 1991; featured in archival footage)
- Roots of the Cuban Missile Crisis (documentary, 2001)
- The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (documentary, 2003)
- DC3:ans Sista Resa (Swedish documentary, 2004)
Cultural legacy
According to Michael S. Sherry, "Few American military officers of this century have been more feared, reviled, and ridiculed than Curtis E. LeMay."[77] According to Fred Kaplan:
Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film about nuclear-war plans run amok, is widely heralded as one of the greatest satires in American political or movie history. ... It was no secret—it would have been obvious to many viewers in 1964—that General Ripper looked a lot like Curtis LeMay, the cigar-chomping, gruff-talking general."[78]
University of Notre Dame Professor Dan Lindley points out parallels between LeMay and the characters of Buck Turgidson and Jack Ripper in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, including close paraphrasing of statements by LeMay.[79]
Public buildings
- The headquarters building of U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB in Nebraska is named for the general. It was erected in the late 1950s and was the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command until its disbandment in 1992.
- LeMay Elementary School opened in 1968 in the Capehart housing area of Offutt AFB and is operated by the Bellevue Public Schools.[80]
See also
References
Notes
- ^ LCCN 2006015518. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
..."Big Cigar"—their nickname for Major General Curtis E. Lemay, commander of the 21st Bomber Command, who always had a fat stogie stuffed in his mouth ...
- ISBN 978-1-59698-769-2.
- ^ Current Biography. H. W. Wilson. 1954. p. 403.
- ^ Ohio History Central
- ^ a b "General Curtis Emerson LeMay". United States Air Force. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
- ^ Boniface, Patrick (January–February 1999), "Boeing's Forgotten Monster: XB-15, a Giant in Search of a Cause", Air Enthusiast, pp. 64–7
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Coffey, Iron Eagle
- ^ Harper, CB (Red). "March 1944 and Berlin". With The Mighty Eighth and the Fifteenth Air Forces in Action Over Europe in World War II. Archived from the original on August 22, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Tillman, LeMay
- ISBN 978-0-9897906-0-4.
- ^ Errol Morris (2003). The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (documentary film).
- ^ a b c United States Strategic Bombing Survey. Summary Report (Pacific War). Washington DC, July 1, 1946.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Peter Jennings – Hiroshima: Why the Bomb was Dropped (1995)". YouTube.com. Event occurs at 19:30/108:58. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ISBN 0-203-00722-0.
- ISBN 1-56311-483-6. p. 38.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4.
- ^ PBS. American Experience. Race for the Superbomb. General Curtis E. Lemay, (1906–1990). 2009. (accessed April 18, 2013)
- ^ Errol Morris, The Fog of War, Documentary Film, 2003 (accessed October 8, 2016)
- ISBN 978-1-8454-5844-7.
- ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936–1945, Random House, 1970, p. 671.
- ISBN 0-938021-28-1.
- ^ Potts, J. Ivan Jr. "The Japan to Washington Flight: September 18–19, 1945" (PDF). 40th Bomb Group. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
- ^ ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ Snyder, Thomas; Shaw, Shelia (January 28, 1992). "Profiles In Leadership 1942–1992". Air Force Historical Research Agency. pp. 86–95. Archived from the original on November 30, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-399-15496-6(2008)
- ^ Watson, George M., Secretaries and Chiefs of Staff of the United States Air Force, Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program, USAF (2001) p. 132: LeMay recorded the incident in a memo to staff the same day, stating "this afternoon I found a man guarding a hangar with a ham sandwich. There will be no more of that".
- Air & Space.
- ^ David Alan Rosenberg, "The Origins of Overkill: Nuclear Weapons and American Strategy, 1945–1960", International Security, 7/4, (1983): p 19.
- ^ Fred Kaplan, The Wizards of Armageddon, (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1991), p 97.
- ^ Michio Kaku, & Daniel Axelrod, To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon Secret War Plans, (Boston: South End Press, 1987), p 97.
- ^ Steven T. Ross, "American War Plans 1945–1950" Frank Cass & Co., 1996, pg. 106–107
- ^ Kozak, Warren. "LeMay: The Life And Wars of General Curtis LeMay". Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved May 8, 2009.
- Air Force Magazine. October 2008.)
{{cite journal}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help - ^ a b Havemann, p. 136
- ^ Puttré, Michael, Nagasaki Revisited Archived June 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, retrieved April 8, 2011
- Dutch Van Kirk(Enola Gay's navigator), and other surviving members of the 509th Composite Group were reportedly outraged at many of the assertions by Sweeney in War's End.
- ISBN 0-380-97349-9(1997), p. 75:
- ^ Watson, George M., Secretaries and Chiefs of Staff of the United States Air Force, Washington, DC: Air Force History and Museums Program, USAF (2001) p. 132.
- ^ "Sport: Red for Ferrari", Time, April 20, 1953.
- ^ "Judo in SAC Air Force", Black Belt, April 1962, pp. 37–38: These ranged from basketball courts and pool tables to judo tournaments and even assembling and tuning engines in SAC workshops for sports car races on SAC air bases.
- ^ "Armed Forces: The Finish Flag", Time, August 2, 1954: This included new innerspring mattresses, fans, pool tables, and TV sets for enlisted men's quarters.
- ^ "LeMay and the "Airpower Battle"". Air Force Magazine. Air Force Association. October 1, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
LeMay led SAC from 1948 through 1957, the longest tenure of any US military commander in nearly a century. When he left, SAC had grown to a force of 224,000 airmen, nearly 2,000 heavy bombers, and some 800 tankers.
- ^ Rhodes, 1995
- ^ National Archives and Records Administration, RG 200, Defense Programs and Operations, LeMay's Memo to President and JCS Views, Box 83. Secret.
- ^ Robert Coram, Boyd. Back Bay Books/Little, Brown, and Company, 2002, p. 59.
- ^ LeMay, Gen. Curtis Emerson, with MacKinley Kantor, Mission With LeMay: My Story, (Doubleday, 1965) p.565, as quoted (quote #127) in Respectfully Quoted A Dictionary of Quotations by James H. Billington, Library of Congress, as reproduced online by Google Books (click here for quote), and as reproduced online by Bartleby.com (click here for quote).
- ^ a b Cullather, Nick (professor of history, Indiana University), "Bomb them Back to the Stone Age: An Etymology", History News Network, October 6, 2006
- ^ a b LeMay, Gen. Curtis Emerson, in Washington Post interview published October 4, 1968, as quoted (quote #127) in Respectfully Quoted A Dictionary of Quotations by James H. Billington, Library of Congress, as reproduced online by Google Books (click here for quote), and as reproduced online by Bartleby.com (click here for quote).
- ^ a b Popik, Barry (etymologist; contributor, Oxford English Dictionary), "'Bomb into the Stone Age' (total destruction)", The Big Apple blog.
- ^ a b Turner, Robert F., Chapter 10: "How Political Warfare Caused America to Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory in Vietnam" Archived April 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, from John Norton Moore and Robert F. Turner, editors, The Real Lessons of the Vietnam War: Reflections Twenty-Five Years After the Fall of Saigon, 2002, Carolina Academic Press, Durham, N.Car.
- ^ Stephan Budianksy, Air Power: The Men, Machines, and Ideas that Revolutionized War from Kitty Hawk to Iraq. The Penguin Group, 2005, p. 382.
- ^ Hickman, Kennedy (2016). "General Curtis E. LeMay: Father of the Strategic Air Command". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on June 26, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "VP candidate LeMay puts foot in it, 1968. Film 90672". YouTube.
- ISBN 0-8071-2597-0.
- ^ "1968 Presidential General Elections Results". U.S. Election Atlas.org. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- ISBN 978-1-57864-397-4.
- ^ a b "Curtis LeMay, 83, Bomber General of WW II, Dies". Los Angeles Times. staff writer. October 2, 1990. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
- ^ a b Narvaez, Alfonso A. (October 2, 1990). "Gen. Curtis LeMay, an Architect of Strategic Air Power, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
- ^ "Famous men members of Masonic Lodges". American Canadian Grand Lodge ACGL. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018.
- ^ "Famous members of Masonic Lodges". Bavaria Lodge No. 935 A.F. & A. M. Archived from the original on October 13, 2018.
- ^ "Famous members in the history of Freemasonry". Archived from the original on May 24, 2016.
- ^ The Gazette
- ^ a b Shea, Tom (September 13, 1982). "Buckley finds word processing on Z-89 'liberating'". InfoWorld. p. 26.
- ^ "Surfin': More Hamming at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue". National Association for Amateur Radio.
- ^ "Amateur Radio and the Rise of SSB" (PDF). National Association for Amateur Radio.
- ^ a b c "SCCA Announces 2007 Hall of Fame Class". Sports Car Club of America. November 22, 2006. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006.
- ^ Class exemplar, archived from the original on August 19, 2011
- ^ "With the end of the war in August 1945, the Ministry of Education regained control of Japan's physical education curriculum, and this ended the bayonet and grenade throwing in the Japanese public schools. On October 22, 1945, the Supreme Commander Allied Powers (SCAP) notified the Ministry of Education that "dissemination of militaristic and ultra-nationalistic ideology will be prohibited and all military education and drill will be discontinued." Two months later, on January 4, 1946, SCAP issued Directive 550, which, with its companion Directive 548, required "the removal and exclusion from public life of militaristic and ultra nationalistic persons." One result of these orders was that the Ministry of Education eliminated martial arts from school curricula.": from Documentation Regarding the Budo Ban in Japan, 1945–1950, Journal of Combative Sport, December 2002
- ^ "General Curtis E. LeMay Archived July 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine", 456th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, February 10, 2014
- ^ National Archives and Records Administration, Archival service record of Curtis LeMay, Archival Records Branch (Released 2007)
- ^ Records of the War Department Militia Bureau, Adjutant General Form 22, "Telephone resignation of Curtis LeMay", October 2, 1929 (Filed October 14, 1929)
- ^ White, Robert (October 29, 1951). "Appointment to General Officer Grades". Air Force Historical Research Agency. p. 4. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ^ United States National Archives, Archival service record of Curtis LeMay, Air Force Retirement Order (Released Nov 2007)
- ^ "Enshrinee Curtis LeMay". nationalaviation.org. National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ "Valor awards for Curits LeMay". Military Times. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
- ^ Michael S. Sherry, "Review," Journal of American History (March, 1987) 73#4 p. 1071.
- ^ Fred Kaplan, "Truth Stranger Than 'Strangelove' " The New York Times Oct. 10, 2004.
- ^ Dan Lindley (September 8, 2009). "A Teaching Guide to Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove". www3.nd.edu. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
Ripper: 'He said war was too important to be left to the Generals. When he said that, fifty years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought'. Air Force Lieutenant General David Burchinal (U.S.A.F. Chief of Staff LeMay's deputy for operations), speaks about the Cuban Missile Crisis and the value of strategic superiority: 'They did not understand what had been created and handed to them'. To which LeMay confirmed: 'That was the mood prevalent with the top civilian leadership you are quite correct'.
- ^ "LeMay Elementary". Bellevue Public Schools. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
Further reading
- Albertson, Trevor, "A Strategy for Victory: Curtis LeMay and His Public Relations Machine", New England Journal of History 72 (Spring 2016), 33–61.
- Atkins, Albert Air Marshall Sir Arthur Harris and General Curtis E. Lemay: A Comparative Analytical Biography. ISBN 0-7596-5940-0.
- Craig, William The Fall of Japan. The Dial Press, 1967.
- Coffey, Thomas M. Iron Eagle: The Turbulent Life of General Curtis LeMay. Random House, 1986. ISBN 0-517-55188-8.
- Kozak, Warren LeMay: The Life and Wars of Curtis LeMay. Regnery, 2009. plus Author Interview at the Pritzker Military Libraryon June 4, 2009
- Moscow, Warren "City's Heart Gone". The New York Times. March 11, 1945: 1, 13.
- Narvez, Alfonso A. "Gen. Curtis LeMay, an Architect of Strategic Air Power, Dies at 83". The New York Times. October 2, 1990.
- ISBN 0-321-01349-2.
- Rhodes, Richard Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Simon & Schuster, 1995. ISBN 0-684-80400-X
- ISBN 1-4039-7135-8
LeMay in popular culture
- Albertson, Trevor. "A Strategy for Victory: Curtis LeMay and His Public Relations Machine." New England Journal of History 72.2 (2016): 33–61.
- Maloney, Sean M. Deconstructing Dr. Strangelove: The Secret History of Nuclear War Films (U of Nebraska Press, 2020) at https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv10sm8sx.9
- Kaplan, Fred. "Truth Stranger Than 'Strangelove' " The New York Times Oct. 10, 2004
- Schlosser, Eric. "Almost Everything in 'Dr. Strangelove' Was True," The New Yorker (January 17, 2014) online
Primary sources
- LeMay, Curtis E. "Mission with LeMay: My Story". Doubleday, 1965
- LeMay, Curtis E., Yenne, Bill Superfortress: The Boeing B-29 and American Airpower in World War II. Westholme Publishing 2006, originally published by Berkley, 1988
- McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. Vintage Press, 1995. ISBN 0-679-76749-5.
Historiography
- Crane, Conrad C. "LeMay, Curtis" in Charles Messenger, ed. Reader's Guide to Military History (Routledge, 2001), pp 324–5 online
- USAF National Museum, "Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, Awards and Decorations"
- USAF Service Record of Curtis LeMay, Military Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, MO.
- "Curtis E LeMay", 456 Fighter Interceptor Squadron, archived from the original on July 24, 2011.
External links
- "LeMay", Air Force Magazine, USA, March 1998, archived from the original on February 13, 2008
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link). - Meilinger, Colonel Phillip S, "LeMay", American Airpower Biography: A Survey of the Field, USAF, archived from the original on October 9, 2004.
- Rhodes, Richard, General Curtis LeMay, Head of Strategic Air Command, USA: PBS, archived from the original on January 6, 2017, retrieved August 26, 2017.
- Rhodes, Richard, LeMay's Vision of War, USA: PBS, archived from the original on March 5, 2016, retrieved August 26, 2017.
- Annotated bibliography of Curtis LeMay, Alsos Digital Library, archived from the original on June 14, 2006, retrieved November 18, 2019.
- "Gen. Curtis E. LeMay", National Museum, USAF, archived from the original on May 6, 2008.
- Nutter, Ralph H (2005), With the Possum and the Eagle, University of North Texas Press, ISBN 978-1-57441-198-0. A view of working with LeMay, by his lead navigator in Europe.
- "Curtis LeMay". Find a Grave. Retrieved February 17, 2008.
- Morely, Jefferson (editor). "Where was Gen. Curtis LeMay on Nov. 22, 1963?". JFK Facts.