Iron eagle : the turbulent life of General Curtis LeMay

Description

In World War II he was so daring, ingenious, and effective, first against the Germans and then the Japanese, that he became America's most famous air commander—in the minds of most experts the greatest this country has ever produced. Curtis E. LeMay personally led his Flying Fortresses across fiercely defended German skies in some of the most vicious air battles of all time. He had about him the same aura of unflinching toughness as Patton. He devised some of the most innovative aerial strategies of the Second World War. including the low-level B-29 attacks that devastated Japan. After the war LeMay instituted the Berlin Airlift that prevented the Red Army from taking over Berlin. And later he developed the Strategic Air Command. Americas first line of defense and deterrence. When the United States went to war in 1941 LeMay was a captain, unknown to the top leadership of the Air Force. Twenty years later he was Chief of Staff under President Kennedy and later President Johnson. During his tenure he was almost constantly at odds with John F. Kennedy and Robert McNamara over such issues as the Bay of Pigs, the TFX jet fighter and the B-70 bomber, and Vietnam War policy. Because of his blunt directness, his friends called him "The Diplomat." In spite of his record as one of the most celebrated heroes of World War II, LeMay is most remembered for something he never said—the suggestion that we "bomb Vietnam back into the Stone Age. " What he did say—and does to this day believe—got him into enough trouble, and Iron Eagle gives a full and unsparing account of the man and the controversies that swirled around him. For the first time all the facts are there—the staunch conservative, the unabashed patriot, and the demanding leader. Although he was often criticized for American air policies during the Vietnam War, LeMay made none of the major decisions about Vietnam, but he never made that clear to the public. His brief foray into national politics after his retirement, his role in forging the nuclear shield that is still in place, and all his other battles, in the Pentagon and in the air, are described here in enthralling detail. THOMAS M COFFEY is the author of the critically acclaimed Hap: The Story of the U. S. Air Force and the Man Who Built It: General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold and The Donkey's Gift. He lives in Santa Monica, California.