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From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan

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From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan General Curtis E. LeMay’s Letters to His Wife Helen, 1941–1945 Benjamin Paul Hegi Edited by Alfred F. Hurley with a foreword by John K. Hurley Eagle Editions An Imprint of the University of North Texas Libraries Denton Published by University of North Texas Libraries 1155 Union Circle #305190 Denton, TX 76203-5017 Copyright © 2015 Benjamin Paul Hegi and the Estate of Alfred F. Hurley. Some rights reserved. Except where otherwise noted, this work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License. Published 2015 Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-68040-001-4 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12794/sps.lemay-001-4 Requests for permission should be directed to TGK Ventures LLC Three Embarcadero Ctr, Ste 210 San Francisco, CA 94111 table of Contents Foreword vii Acknowledgements ix 1. Introduction: Helen and Curt 1 2. Childhood, Helen, and Early Career 13 3. Ferry Duty: Summer–December 7, 1941 38 4. Preparing for War: January–October 22, 1942 52 5. The Group: November 4, 1942–May 29, 1943 93 6. Rising Star: June 19–December 1943 134 7. The Luftwaffe Defeated: January–June 15, 1944 166 8. “An Ungodly Situation”: China, Burma, and India, August 27, 1944–January 15, 1945 217 9. The “Operator”: January 20–September 18, 1945 297 10. Epilogue: Home 398 Appendix 405 Bibliography 421 Index 431 Foreword This edited volume of the wartime letters of General Curtis LeMay is the final scholarly project of Alfred Francis Hurley, whose best-known previ- ous work was Billy Mitchell: Crusader for Airpower. First published in 1964 and republished in 1975, it was described by Robert H. Ferrell as “the best book—the most scholarly, the most judicial, the best written—about the intelligent, attractive, undiplomatic, quixotic Billy Mitchell, the legendary founder of today’s United States Air Force.” That Hurley’s final project fo- cused on the equally complicated legacy of General Curtis LeMay seems very appropriate. Dr. Hurley’s career was remarkable. After graduating summa cum laude from Saint John’s University in 1950, he enlisted in the Air Force, and over the next thirty years rose to the rank of brigadier general. He spent half of his military career flying as a navigator and the other half at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he was chair of the Department of History from 1966 to 1980. After leaving the Air Force, he served for twenty years as the chancellor and president of the University of North Texas, where, among other achievements, he is credited with launching UNT’s very strong pro- gram in military history. Crusader for Airpower was based on Dr. Hurley’s Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton University. As Ferrell indicates, the book offers a balanced por- trait of Mitchell that is often at odds with his popular image as a visionary martyr, best typified in the movie The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, di- rected by Otto Preminger and starring Gary Cooper. In his assessment of Mitchell, Hurley agreed with the “visionary” part but took issue with the idea that he was a martyr. As he told me years later, “Mitchell knew exactly what he was doing” when, to publicize his views on the importance of air- vii viii Foreword power, he left his superiors in the Army with no choice but to court martial him. Hurley’s willingness as a young captain to question the received wis- dom about his service’s most revered figure was a measure of his intellectual honesty and a model for officer scholars who followed him at the Academy. The impetus for the current volume came more than three decades lat- er, when Janie LeMay Lodge gave Dr. Hurley her father’s wartime letters. He was excited by the project, believing that the collection would provide scholars with a rare window into a side of LeMay that contrasted sharply with his fierce public persona. Unfortunately, by the time he was able to be- gin work on the letters shortly after he had stepped down from his position at UNT, he was already in the early stages of a long fight with Alzheimer’s disease that would take his life in 2013. He put the leadership of the project into the able hands of Ben Hegi, his former student, but continued to share his insights, editorial guidance, and mentorship. Those research and editing sessions with Hegi and Jana Dean, his longtime assistant at UNT, were a source of great satisfaction and enjoyment for Dr. Hurley, especially as the volume neared completion in the final months of his life. My father, our family, and future readers of this work are deeply indebted to them both for their scholarship, patience, and hard work. John K. Hurley June 2015 acknowledgements This book is important for many reasons, but chiefly because it is a partial fulfillment of Dr. Alfred F. Hurley’s final ambition to revisit history’s ex- amination of the life and military career of General Curtis E. LeMay. From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan, would not exist without Dr. Hurley’s thorough research, guidance, and involvement, which he pursued with ded- ication until his untimely passing. A big “thank you” is due to Janie LeMay Lodge for entrusting us with her father’s letters. Staff members of the U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency were particularly helpful in locating and relaying necessary documents to us. World War II veterans such as Jim Patillo, General T. R. Milton, and many others contributed critical informa- tion during the course of Dr. Hurley’s early research, which was invaluable during the writing phase. A special thanks to John Hurley along with his brothers Al Jr. and Mark, who provided support and perspective through- out the entire project, and of course the indispensable Deborah Weinberger and Jana Dean, both of whom were crucial to the project’s successful con- clusion. Kevin Hawkins, director of library publishing at the University of North Texas, our editor Norman Ware, our indexer Mary Hashman, and our designers Paula Newcomb and Heidi Dailey also deserve thanks for making the book a reality and displaying an enviable measure of patience. Most importantly, to my intelligent, beautiful wife, DeAnn, and our amaz- ing son, Jase, thank you for enriching my life beyond expression. I love you both unfailingly. To every individual, archive, and agency that was not named here and that aided us in our work, “Thank you.” ix Chapter 1 Introduction Helen and Curt “I think I’ll take the fat one,” remarked Helen Estelle Maitland to her friend, Helene Strong, one spring evening in 1931.1 The pair was staring down upon a trio of young Air Corps pilots, including Second Lieutenant Herb Tellman, Strong’s fiancé, from the window of their dorm room as the young men were walking toward their building, Mosher Hall, located on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor.2 “The fat one” was Sec- ond Lieutenant Curtis Emerson LeMay, who, along with another aviator, Louis Vaupre, had grudgingly agreed to join Tellman on a triple date with Strong and her two friends. At twenty-five, Lieutenant LeMay had rarely pursued the young ladies. Although he was shy, ever-present responsibilities dominated his daily schedule; work, school, and supporting his siblings left little free time for social gatherings, but Helen Maitland commanded his full attention from the start.3 Their blind date sparked a relationship that spanned fifty-nine years and a marriage that lasted fifty-six years until LeMay’s death on Oc- tober 1, 1990.4 Curtis and Helen spent the bulk of that time in service to the United States Air Force. As LeMay’s career flourished, Helen proved to be 1. Thomas M. Coffey, Iron Eagle: The Turbulent Life of General Curtis LeMay (New York: Crown Publishers, 1986), 216–217. 2. Curtis E. LeMay and MacKinlay Kantor, Mission with LeMay: My Story (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965), 79. The editors acknowledge thatMission with LeMay was, in part, written as a political piece; however, there are few better sources (excepting many of the air force oral histories he took part in) that reveal LeMay’s personal thoughts on his own life and career. This is why the editors chose to use it in this work. 3. Although LeMay was struck with Helen, he made the point that he had no intention of mar- rying anyone at that time in his life. Still, they started dating following this first meeting. Ibid., 80. 4.Helen passed away a year and a half later on February 16, 1992. See “Helen E. LeMay,” Social Security Death Index, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland. 1 2 From Wright Field, Ohio, to Hokkaido, Japan a crucial player in her husband’s success, pursuing programs that created tangible, positive effects in the lives of air force servicemen, servicewomen, and their families. The sum of their efforts secured the couple’s bright legacy in the history of the United States military. Still, LeMay’s personality, conservatism, and command style attracted critics throughout his postwar career, and to the present day.5 This volume presents another piece of General LeMay’s history through the 344 letters he wrote to his wife from 1941 to 1945.The collection was acquired by Dr. Alfred Hurley from the LeMays’ only child, Mrs. Jane LeMay Lodge, who graciously allowed the editors to introduce them to scholars and the general public. Unfortunately, Helen’s responses were not retained by LeMay.
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