Curtis LeMay

Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906–October 1, 1990) was a General in the United States Air Force. He is credited with creating an effective systematic strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific Theatre of World War II and later reorganizing the Strategic Air Command as a military arm for conducting nuclear war. However, he was also characterized by his opponents (who referred to him as "Bombs Away Lemay") as a belligerent warmonger whose aggressiveness threatened to enflame tense international political situations like the Cuban Missile Crisis into war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Biography

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he studied civil engineering at Ohio State University. He joined the Air Corps in 1928 and became an officer through the ROTC. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1930. He married Helen E. Maitland (died 1994) on the 9th of June 1934 with whom he had one child - Patricia Jane LeMay Lodge.

Related Topics:
Columbus, Ohio - Ohio State University - Air Corps - ROTC - 1930 - 1994 - 1934

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He transferred to bomber aircraft in 1937 and soon demonstrated his

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abilities. When his crews were not flying missions they were being subjected to

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his relentless training as he believed that training was the key to saving their

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lives. The men called him "Iron Ass" because he demanded so much but he was

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immensely respected.

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One story is that he approached a fully-fueled bomber with his ever-present cigar stuck firmly between his lips. When asked by a guard to put it out as it might blow up the aircraft, LeMay replied, "It wouldn't dare."

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At the outbreak of World War II he was a group commander in the Eighth Air Force. By early 1942 he was a lieutenant colonel and directed the 305th Group into action over Europe. He was given command of the 3rd Bombardment Division in late 1942. He often demonstrated his courage by personally leading his bombers on the dangerous missions, including what many regard as the most dangerous mission ever flown - the attack on Regensberg, Germany on October 14, 1943. The Air Corp lost half of the 1,000 planes launched that day - a day that has gone down in Air Force history as 'Black Thursday.' Of the 291 B-17 planes involved in this raid, 60 were shot down; 5 crashed and were destroyed on return; 12 were written off after landing as un-repairable and scrapped; 121 had to be repaired in some fashion before returning to flying status, leaving only 93 aircraft intact.

Related Topics:
World War II - Eighth Air Force - 1942 - Europe - Regensberg - Germany - 1943

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This second ineffective raid 500 miles inside enemy territory again without fighter cover on the ball bearing plant outraged the American public. This lead to the Air Corp reviewing the idea of daylight precision bombing. Daylight bombing was halted until February 1944.

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In July 1944 LeMay transferred to the Pacific Theater. He was promoted to major general and directed first the XX Bomber Command and then the XXI Bomber Command in India.

Related Topics:
1944 - Pacific Theater - XX Bomber Command - XXI Bomber Command - India

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LeMay's initial assessment of the operations of his new command determined that his bombers were dropping their bombs near their targets only five percent of the time, and that his losses of aircraft and crews were unsustainably high. LeMay was convinced that continuing his predecessor's high-altitude, precision bombing doctrine would be ineffective, given the weather conditions over Japan. He decided to switch tactics to low-altitude, incendiary attacks on Japanese cities with precision bombing only when weather permitted.

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LeMay commanded B-29 operations against Japan, including the massive incendiary attacks on sixty four Japanese cities. This included the firebombing of Tokyo on March 9 - March 10, 1945. For this first attack LeMay removed the armaments on 325 B-29s, loaded each plane with firebomb clusters and ordered the bombers out at 5 - 9,000 feet over Tokyo. The first planes arrived over Tokyo just after midnight

Related Topics:
B-29 - Japan - Firebombing - Tokyo

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on March 10. In a three hour period they dropped 1,665 tons of incendiary bombs killing more than 100,000 civilians and incinerating 16 square miles of the city.

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Precise figures are not available but the firebombing and nuclear bombing campaign against Japan, directed by LeMay between March, 1945 and the Japanese surrender in August, 1945, may have killed more than one million Japanese civilians. Official estimates from the United States Strategic Bombing Survey put the figures at 330,000 people killed, 476,000 injured, 8.5 million people made homeless and 2.5 million buildings destroyed. Nearly half the built-up

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areas of sixty-four cities were totally destroyed.

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"There are no innocent civilians, so it doesn't bother me so much to be killing innocent bystanders." The New York Times reported at the time, "Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay,

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commander of the B-29�fs of the entire Marianas area, declared that if the war

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is shortened by a single day the attack will have served its purpose."

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LeMay referred to his nightime incendiary attacks as "fire jobs." The Japanese nicknamed him "brutal LeMay" (?????). LeMay was quite aware of both the brutality of his actions and the Japanese opinion of him - he once remarked that had the U.S. lost the war, he fully expected to be tried for war crimes. However, he argued that it was his duty to carry out the attacks.

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Roosevelt and Truman justified these tactics by referring to an estimate that one million American troops would be killed if Japan had to be invaded. Additionally, the Japanese had decentralized their armament industries into small workshops in civilian districts, which (according to the rationale) made these areas legitimate

Related Topics:
Roosevelt - Truman

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military targets.

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In addition, LeMay oversaw Operation Starvation, an aerial mining operation against Japanese waterways and ports which disrupted the Japanese shipping and food distribution logistics.

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Post-war he was briefly transferred to The Pentagon as Deputy Chief of Air Staff for Research & Development. In 1947 he returned to Europe as commander of USAF Europe, heading operations for the Berlin Airlift in 1948. Under LeMay's direction, C-54 cargo planes that could each carry 10-tons began supplying the city on July 1. By the fall the airlift was

Related Topics:
The Pentagon - 1947 - Berlin Airlift - 1948

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bringing in an average of 5,000 tons of supplies a day. The airlift went on for

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11 months - 213,000 flights that brought in 1.7 million tons of food and fuel to Berlin. The Soviets gave up and opened up the land corridors to the West.

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He was back in the US by 1949 to replace George Kenney in command of the Strategic Air Command. When he took over as its commander it consisted of little more than a few understaffed and untrained B-29 groups left over from World War II. Less than half its aircraft were operational and the crews were next to worthless. He ordered a mock bombing raid on Dayton, Ohio. Most of the bombers missed their targets by one to two miles.

Related Topics:
1949 - George Kenney - Strategic Air Command

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He headed SAC until 1957, overseeing its transformation into a modern, efficient, all-jet-engine force. In the process he obtained vast fleets of new bombers, established a vast aerial refueling system, started many new units and bases, began missile development and established a strict command and control system. He was appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force in July 1957, serving until 1961 when he was made the fifth Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force on the retirement of Thomas White.

Related Topics:
1957 - 1961 - Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force - Thomas White

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He was not a success as Chief of Staff; he was a belligerent and totally committed anti-Communist. His first war plan was drawn up in 1949 and proposed delivering "the entire stockpile of atomic bombs in a single massive attack" - dropping 133 atomic bombs on 70 cities within 30 days. He clashed repeatedly with Robert McNamara, Air Force Secretary Eugene Zuckert and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Maxwell Taylor.

Related Topics:
Communist - Robert McNamara - Eugene Zuckert - Maxwell Taylor

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LeMay lost significant appropriation battles (for Skybolt ALBM, and the B-52 replacement, the XB-70.) He also lost in his desire for a much more vigorous engagement in the Vietnam War. The quote "we should bomb Vietnam back into the stone age" is often attributed to him. His passion for promoting strategic air campaigns over tactical strike and ground support operations came to be reflected in the Air Force, which became disproportionately strong in favour of strategic bombing operations during his tenure. Area bombardment of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia led to the deaths and maiming of thousands of innocent civilians during the wars in those countries.

Related Topics:
Skybolt ALBM - B-52 - XB-70 - Vietnam War - Vietnam - Strategic bombing

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During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, LeMay clashed with John F. Kennedy and Defense Secretary McNamara, arguing that he should be allowed to bomb nuclear sites in Cuba, even though he himself only estimated his planes could take out about 90 percent of these sites (post-crisis analysis revealed that such attacks would have missed significantly more missiles than these). He opposed the blockade, and after the end of the crisis, suggested that Cuba be invaded anyway, even after the Russians agreed to withdraw.

Related Topics:
Cuban Missile Crisis - 1962 - John F. Kennedy

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LeMay retired in February 1965 and seemed to be headed for a potential political career. His highest accomplishment in politics was to be selected as the vice presidential candidate to segregationist George Wallace on the American Independent Party ticket in 1968. LeMay's comments on the announcement of his selection by Wallace in October 1968, however, probably hurt the ticket more than helped as the general expressed his opinion that the country feared the use of nuclear weapons which he clearly did not. The Wallace candidacy lost support after LeMay's saber-rattling statements.

Related Topics:
1965 - Segregationist - George Wallace - American Independent Party - 1968

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He was honored by several countries receiving the Air Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal with 2 oak leaf clusters, the French Legion of Honor and the Silver Star. On December 7, 1964 the Japanese government conferred on him the First Order of Merit with the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun. He was elected to the Alfalfa Club in 1957 and he served as a general for seventeen years.

Related Topics:
Air Medal - Distinguished Flying Cross - Distinguished Service Cross - Distinguished Service Medal - Legion of Honor - Silver Star - 1964 - First Order of Merit - Alfalfa Club - 1957

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He is buried in the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery at Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Related Topics:
United States Air Force Academy Cemetery - Colorado Springs - Colorado

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