Millard Harmon Millard Fillmore Harmon Jr . ( January 19 , 1888 - February 26 , 1945 ) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Pacific campaign in World War II . Biography . He was born in 1888 at Fort Mason , California . He was from a military family , his father was a colonel , one brother a major general and another a colonel . He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1912 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry , serving with the 28th and 9th Infantry Regiments . In 1914 he was ordered to the Philippines , and two years later detailed to the newly organized Aviation Section , U . S . Signal Corps . That year he accompanied the Mexican Punitive Expedition and did aerial patrol work along the border . Two weeks before the United States entered World War I , Harmon , then a first lieutenant , was on his way to France . There he attended aviation schools in Paris , served at Allied and American headquarters , and was finally attached to the French 13th Group de Combat as a pilot during the Somme defensive , for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre . In July 1920 , Harmon , now a major and stationed at France Field in Panama , transferred to the Army Air Service , precursor of the Air Corps . In April of the following year , he returned to Washington where he served as a member of the Advisory Board of the Air Service . During the years of peace , he continued his training , graduating from the Command and General Staff School and the Army War College . He taught military science and tactics at the University of Washington in Seattle , was assigned as an instructor in the Command and General Staff School , and served with the War Department General Staff for two years . From 1927 to 1930 , he was Commandant of the Air Corps Primary Flying School at March Field , California . , during which time he came into contact with the young men then entering aviation training . He commanded Barksdale Field and the 20th Pursuit Group for four years . In 1936 , as a lieutenant colonel , he went to Hawaii to command Luke Field and the 5th Bombardment Group . In 1938 he returned to the United States to become Assistant Commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama . After two years of service there , he was assigned for brief periods to Randolph Field , Texas , and Hamilton Field , California . On Oct . 1 , 1940 , while he was in command at Randolph Field , he was promoted to brigadier general . In January 1941 , Harmon was sent to the United Kingdom as an Air Observer - he was already rated a command pilot , combat observer and technical observer - serving in that capacity and as a member of the Harriman Mission until April . On his return to the United States , he was assigned as Commanding General of IV Interceptor Command , Fourth Air Force . On July 11 , 1942 he was appointed major general , and a week later was placed in command of the Second Air Force , with headquarters at Fort George Wright , Washington . In December of that year he was assigned as acting Commanding General of the Air Force Combat Command . On January 26 , 1942 , he became Chief of the Air Staff , Army Air Forces . With 30 years combat and command experience as a ground and air officer , General Harmon was well qualified to command Army Forces in an area of increasing strategic importance where air power was to play a dominant role . In July 1942 , General Harmon was appointed Commanding General of U . S . Army Forces in the South Pacific Area , an area that was under Navy command . In November , Admiral Halsey assumed command of the South Pacific , and the two formed a perfect team . In 1944 , at the conclusion of his mission and before he went to another command , Admiral Halsey wrote , " I was particularly fortunate in having Harmon as Commanding General of the Army Forces ; his sound advice and wholehearted cooperation in attaining the common goal were outstanding contributions to the joint effort . " On February 2 , 1943 , Harmon was promoted to lieutenant general . Until September of the following year , he commanded the Army Forces in the South Pacific Area , and then moved to a new command , Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean areas ( AAFPOA ) , created under the principle of unit of command in preparation for B - 29 Superfortress strategic bombing operations against Japan from the Marianas . At the same time , he was " dual - hatted " as Deputy Commander of the Twentieth Air Force carrying out those operations , under the command of General Arnold . Harmon desired his command of AAFPOA to be more than an administrative , service , and coordinating agency . He lobbied Headquarters AAF for operational control of all USAAF combat operations in the Pacific Ocean Area , and partial operational control of the B - 29 operations against Japan , from his headquarters on Guam . Wearing his AAFPOA hat , he gained control of all Army and Navy land - based bomber and fighter operations when theater commander Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz named him commander of " Task Force 93 " ( Strategic Air Force , POA ) in December . However this role brought him into conflict with Arnold ' s objective of maintaining absolute control of Twentieth Air Force operations independent of any theater commands . The issue came to a head in February 1945 when Harmon clashed with Maj . Gen . Curtis E . LeMay , the new commander of the XXI Bomber Command , over command of five long - range fighter groups assigned to the Twentieth Air Force as escorts for strategic bombers , with LeMay prevailing . Harmon objected , contending that the result would be a seriously inefficient use of the forces . On February 25 , 1945 , a B - 24 Liberator carrying Harmon , and Brigadier General James R . Andersen , his chief of staff , departed Guam for Washington , D . C . via Kwajalein and Hawaii to resolve the fighter dispute . Their aircraft reached Kwajalein Island safely , but disappeared the next day after taking off for Hawaii . The aircraft was never found and there were no survivors . He was declared dead on 25 February 1946 , one year after he disappeared . Legacy . Harmon Air Force Base , Guam was named after him .