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In 1949 LeMay was transferred back to the US and placed in charge of SAC, with orders to transform it into a force capable of conducting a nuclear war should the need arise, a task he performed with great effectiveness. [6][7], LeMay soon concluded that the techniques and tactics developed for use in Europe against the Luftwaffe were unsuitable against Japan. [43], On March 13, 2010, LeMay was named the exemplar for the United States Air Force Academy class of 2013.[44]. Read RT Privacy policy to find out more. He wrote several books railing against the influence of "radicals" and "liberals" in American cultural and political circles.He died in 1990. The use of ICBMs and SLBMs is not, therefore, a rational or credible response to provocations which, although serious, are still less than an immediate threat to national survival. [10], The remaining Allied prisoners of war in Japan who had survived imprisonment to that time were frequently subjected to additional reprisals and torture after an air raid. General LeMay died on October 1, 1990, at March Air Force Base in Riverside County, California, and is buried in the United States Air Force Academy Cemetery[41] at Colorado Springs, Colorado. Also, he incurred the wrath of many in the defense community when they saw what they believed to be his transparent attempt to use the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 as a pretext to launch a war against Cuba and the Soviet Union--he strongly urged President John F. Kennedy to attack both Cuba and the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons--and that cost him much support in military circles, as did his policy of massive bombing campaigns against North Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia that resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths but which put no appreciable dent in the North Vietnamese war effort.LeMay retired in 1965 and almost immediately became involved in radical right-wing politics. The campaign lost much steam and support after statements like that and crushed Wallace's chances of being taken as a serious contender.After the disastrous Wallace campaign, LeMay continued his involvement in ultra-right-wing politics, but not to the extent he had been. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Corps Reserve in October 1929. He advocated the introduction of satellite technology and pushed for the development of the latest electronic warfare techniques. The abort rate dropped overnight. 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. The April 25, 1988, issue of The New Yorker carried an interview with retired Air Force Reserve Major General and former US Senator from Arizona Barry Goldwater, who said he repeatedly asked his friend General LeMay if he (Goldwater) might have access to the secret "Blue Room" at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, alleged by numerous Goldwater constituents to contain UFO evidence. General LeMay disclaimed the comment, saying in a later interview: “I never said we should bomb them back to the Stone Age. LeMay attended Columbus public schools, graduating from Columbus South High School, and studied civil engineering at Ohio State University. US Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, 1957-61. 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. [23], General 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. PBS. LeMay also oversaw Operation Starvation, an aerial mining operation against Japanese waterways and ports that disrupted Japanese shipping and food distribution. In 1949, LeMay was first to propose that a nuclear war be conducted by delivering the nuclear arsenal in a single overwhelming blow, going as far as "killing a nation". His saber rattling did not help the Wallace campaign. Some military historians have argued that LeMay's theories were eventually proven correct. These and other even more defiantly bellicose statements by LeMay alarmed many voters and lent credence to charges by his and Wallace's opponents that the campaign was headed not only by a white supremacist but also by an extremist who eagerly looked forward to a nuclear war (a charge which, for once in a political campaign, was not an exaggeration). This resulted in his being selected as the vice-presidential candidate of arch-segregationist former Alabama governor George Wallace during his presidential campaign of 1968. Upon inspecting a SAC hangar full of US nuclear strategic bombers, LeMay found a single Air Force sentry on duty, armed only with a ham sandwich. The United States Navy in turn proposed delivering strategic nuclear weapons from supercarriers intended to sail into range of the Soviet air defense forces. On October 12, 1929, LeMay finished his flight training and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps Reserve. pp. Though considered “effective” in the war effort, the general’s enthusiastic firebombing of Japanese civilian centers attained him the reputation reflected by one of his nicknamed, “The Demon.”, Adding to the notoriety, LeMay often expressed such heart-warming sentiments as “There are no innocent civilians.”. In his highly controversial and factually disputed[26][27] 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.[28]. Aircrews at the tail end of the bomber stream reported that the stench of burned human flesh permeated the aircraft over the target. [6][7] Japanese cities were largely constructed of combustible materials such as wood and paper. However, consideration must be given to significant differences in terms of both military obejctives 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 a organic insurgency (the Viet Cong) to a conventional mechanized offensive that was by its nature more reliant on industrial output and traditional logistics. The order was ostensibly given because of borderline weather conditions in Washington, but according to First Lieutenant Ivan J. Potts who was on board, the order came because LeMay had one fewer general's stars and should not be seen to outperform his superior.[16]. [43] In November 2006, it was announced that General LeMay would be one of the inductees into the SCCA Hall of Fame in 2007. © Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “TV-Novosti”, 2005–2020. For Haynes again, in May 1938 he navigated three B-17s over 610 miles (980 km) of the Atlantic Ocean to intercept the Italian liner Rex to illustrate the ability of land-based airpower to defend the American coasts. [22], LeMay was an active amateur radio operator and held a succession of call signs; K0GRL, K4FRA, and W6EZV. The overwhelming and virtually nonstop bombing raids in the four-month period between March 1945 and the end of the war in August of that year are estimated to have resulted in the deaths of more than one million Japanese civilians.After the war LeMay was transferred to the Pentagon, but in 1947 was sent back to Europe as USAFE (US Air Force-Europe) commander, and in 1948 was assigned as Chief of Operations for the Berlin Airlift, which resupplied the isolated city of West Berlin when Russian and East German Communist authorities shut down land access to the city in an attempt to starve it out and force the Allied powers to abandon it. According to letters in Curtis 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 General of the Air Force (five stars). LeMay advocated a sustained strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnamese cities, harbors, ports, shipping, and other strategic targets. In 1947, he returned to Europe as commander of USAF Europe, heading operations for the Berlin Airlift in 1948 in the face of a blockade by the Soviet Union and its satellite states that threatened to starve the civilian population of the Western occupation zones of Berlin. ", A famous legend often used by SAC flight crews to illustrate LeMay's command style concerned his famous ever-present cigar.

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