Evening star., 1954-09-20
BY Don Whiteheod

7c =.
OMAHA. Nebr. out here In the
brown, wind-swept center Of America.
stern-faced man Is polishing q fight
ing machine on which the whole free
world may one day depend for survival.
He hopes that. day never will come
an atomic war between the United
States and Russia. He hopes and be-
lieves his efforts have shaped an In
strument for enforcing peace in the
world.
But II war does come, he alone viii
have at his command more destructive
power than all the combined armed
forces Of mankind since the dawn Of
history. His will be the power to wipe
out cities -. the power to leave key
areas Of an enemy nation torn and
bleeding within q few thunderous hours.
This man is four-star Gen. Curtis
Emerson LeMay. His machine is the
Air. Forces Strategic Air Command
the atom bombers which also will be.
the hydrogen hombers.
II there is any one military man the
Russians should fear above all others
In another war-perhaps he Is Gen.
LeMay. For it would be- his bofnberS
that would carry the main weight Of
retaliatory atomic attack against Rus
Sla. The outcome Of the war might well
be determined within q matter of days.
depending on how efficiently Gen.
LeMay and his men are doing and will
do their Jobs.
Day and night his bombers and crews
remain on the ready Day and night,
regardless Of weather, they work to
perfect bombing techniques. Some
one has said that SAC "is at war every
day." Irfs a sense this is true. The
administrations tough new atomic
policy depends to large degree on the
abilities Of this.command.
Who Is this general shouldering such
an awesome responsibility?
In appearance, Gen. LeMay is stocky
and heavy-jowled. He weighs 1856 and
stands 5-l0h. His hazel eyes are set
under black brows His thick black
hair is tinged with gray. Most of the
time he has cigar stuck between his
jaws. His face has stern, set look
older than his At years. A smile
doesn't come easily.
In the legend, Gen. LeMay is "a
George Patton with WINGS He's "Old
Ironpants." He's snorting bull when
put among the bric-a-brac Of Penta-
gon diplomacy. knocking over the deli
cate Dresden china Of interservice re-
lationships. He's general who re-
CARDS men and machines with the
same cold eye. He's the man who can
look at bomber crew and tell YOU
whether they'll come home alive from
TYatc
guy you respect-but can't love.
Some of the stories go like this:
A group Of colonels invited Gen.
LeMay to dinner and he replied: "a
man should have dinner with his
friends, and the commanding general
has no friends"
At reception in England, q talka-
tive woman asked Gen. LeMay why he
was so quiet and he said: Lady, if you
talk all the time. you don't learn
anything,
To his staff, Gen. LeMay said: aTf
any Of you have anything to say, then
get up and say it even If you think it's
stupid. II you are stupid. everybody
knows 1t anyway" nv sstss g4,..s@
There is a large slice of truth in the
LeMay legend. They picked tough
man for tough job
1t is true that Gen. LeNay has built
up a pride and spirit within his COM
mand that probably can't be matched
by any other military outfit outside the
Marines. You find this feeling running
through headquarters and lower bomber
commands even among other air.
men who would like to get transfers
into SAC.
The word has gone around that "Old
Ironpants" gives you fair shake if
you're on his team. Talking to airmen
from Omaha to Texas, the theme goes
like this: "LeMay is tough-but he's
fair. You always know exactly where
you stand with him. You may not like
it-but you know"
The true driving force behind Gen.
LeMay has been his conviction that air
power-properly used-is the key to
victory in war. Once a fighter pilot,
he shifted to bombers early in his
career.
II saw the real power of the Air
Force was in the bombers." he says.
II wanted to be with them
Gen. LeMay has gambled his career
and his life many times to prove his
beliefs to himself and to others. He
drove his men as hard as he did him
self. He made enemies. He left a
trail of wounded feelings behind him
with his blunt talk. But in the crises,
the Air Force has turned to LeMay time
after time as their "get it done" guy.
Examplet In World War II. LeMay
was one OF the first to take the BITS
into combat. He led 20 missions per-
sonally and fought ht-successfully-t Ito
prove that mass daylight bombing was
practical, something the. British had
insisted couldn't be done. He worked
out a new staggered box" formation
for bonibers which gave them greater
protective firepower and sharply re-
duced losses. He proved that bombers
could bore straight in to their targets,
drop their bombs more accurately and
come. home with fewer losses than in
attempting "evasive" action to avoid
flax.
Example: In 1945.s LeMay was sent
to the Mariannas to Jack up the lag
-s -.