Charles Lindbergh

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was a pioneering United States aviator famous for piloting the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.

World War II

In Europe during the rise of fascism, Lindbergh traveled to Germany several times at the behest of the U.S. military, where he reported on German aviation and the Luftwaffe (air force). Lindbergh was intrigued, and stated that Germany had taken a leading part in a number of aviation developments, including metal construction, low-wing designs, dirigibles, and Diesel engines. Lindbergh also undertook a survey of aviation in the Soviet Union in 1938.

Related Topics:
Fascism - Germany - U.S. military - Luftwaffe - Dirigibles - Diesel - 1938

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The Lindberghs lived in England and Brittany, France during the late 1930's in order to find tranquility and avoid the celebrity that followed them everywhere in the United States after the kidnapping trial. In 1938 the American ambassador to Germany, Hugh Wilson invited Lindbergh to a dinner with Hermann Göring at the American embassy in Berlin. The dinner included diplomats and three of the greatest minds of German aviation, Ernst Heinkel, Adolf Baeumaker, and Dr. Willy Messerschmitt. Göring decorated Lindbergh with German medal of honor (the Verdienstkreuz Deutscher Adler) for his services to aviation and particularly for his 1927 flight. Lindbergh's decoration later caused an outcry in the United States, when Lindbergh's closeness to the Nazis was criticized. Lindbergh's letters and diaries of the time indicate that he approved of Nazi policies and of Hitler's leadership. Lindbergh declined to return the medal to the Germans because he claimed that to do so would be "an unnecessary insult" to the Nazi leadership. He would return to the United States as war broke out in Europe.

Related Topics:
England - Brittany - France - Kidnapping trial - 1938 - Hugh Wilson - Hermann Göring - German - Ernst Heinkel - Adolf Baeumaker - Willy Messerschmitt - United States - Nazi

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As Nazi Germany began World War II, Lindbergh became a prominent speaker in favor of isolationism and pro-German policies, going so far as to recommend that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Germany during his January 23, 1941 testimony before Congress. Lindbergh was also the major spokesman for America First providing many speeches during 1940-1941. Lindbergh stated he would publicly name "the groups that were most powerful and effective in pushing the United States towards involvement in the war". At an America First rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 11, 1941, he made a speech titled: "Who Are the War Agitators?". In it, he claimed that Americans had solidly opposed entering the war when it began, and that three groups had been "pressing this country toward war" -- the Roosevelt Administration, the British, and the Jews. In the same speech, Lindbergh clearly communicated that he considered Jewish-Americans to not be patriotic when he said; "But I am saying that the leaders of both the British and Jewish races, for reasons which are understandable from their viewpoint as they are inadvisable from ours, for reasons which are not American, wish to involve us in the war. We cannot blame them for looking out for what they believe to be their own interests, but we also must look out for ours. We cannot allow the natural passions and prejudices of other people to lead our country to destruction."

Related Topics:
World War II - Isolationism - United States - Germany - January 23 - 1941 - Congress - America First - Des Moines - Iowa - September 11 - Roosevelt - British - Jewish-American - Patriotic

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Lindbergh resigned his commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps when President Franklin D. Roosevelt openly questioned his loyalty.

Related Topics:
U.S. Army Air Corps - President - Franklin D. Roosevelt

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After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Lindbergh attempted to return to the Army Air Corps, but was denied when several of Roosevelt's cabinet secretaries registered objections. He went on to assist with the war effort by serving as a civilian consultant to aviation companies and the government, as well as flying about 50 combat missions (again as a civilian) in 1944 in the Pacific. His contributions include engine-leaning techniques that Lindbergh showed P-38 Lightning pilots. This improved fuel usage in cruise, and enabled aircraft to fly longer range missions such as the one that killed Admiral Yamamoto. He also showed Marine F4U pilots how to take off with twice the bomb load that the aircraft was rated for.

Related Topics:
Attack on Pearl Harbor - 1941 - 1944 - Pacific - P-38 Lightning - Admiral Yamamoto

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