LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay by
Warren Kozak
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Most of the WWII generation and some from the Baby Boomer generation could say they remember who Curtis LeMay was and what he contributed to the history of the United States and the world. But even then many from that generation couldn’t tell you much about his distinguished 37 year military career and what it meant to the peace, freedom and prosperity for the following generations of American’s and the rest of the world.
Rather than list his long resume of distinguish accomplishments in the military I urge you to Google his Bio or read this book because it gives a very detailed accounting of his entire career. LeMay must go down in American and World history as one of the greatest military strategists and commanders in the history of warfare. Sadly for most of the Liberals, Pacifists and Apologists who lived through the 60’s and 70’s he’s defined by 2 some say 3 controversial events. I certainly don’t agree with that assessment but for some it forever damned his reputation after his retirement in 1965. By retirement he had attained the rank of a 4 Star General and was a member of the Joint Chief’s serving as Chief of Staff for the Air Force under John F. Kennedy and then Lyndon Johnson.
In this essay/review I’ll only deal with the one controversial event that I believe is the most relevant because it deals the rules of engagement in war which ultimately lead to his forced retirement in 1965. The other 2 controversies you’ll have to read about in the book or discover for yourself because I believe they shouldn’t be what sums up his life in total which was in my mind was extraordinary one.
In brief those 2 events were the incendiary and atomic bombing of Japan and admittedly his biggest mistake which was to accept George Wallace’s invitation to be his Vice Presidential running mate in 1968. The latter is obviously not defendable but the former is highly defendable and debatable. He had his reasons for running with Wallace but he was no racist, it had everything to do with the Vietnam War and his feud with Johnson and McNamara and nothing to do with wanting a life in politics. Once you do the research about his career you’ll discover this but this in no way excuses him in anyway supporting a bigot like Wallace.
As for the bombing of Japan; it ended the war quicker and saved countless lives on both sides. Prior to the atomic bombings the US had planned an invasion of the mainland of Japan that would have taken 500,000 to a million US soldiers to conduct. The loss of American and Japanese lives would have been catastrophic because the Japanese were not going to surrender without a murderous fight. It was the right thing to do then and it would be the right thing to do now, given similar circumstances. Many people that know of LeMay’s career and military tactics would strongly disagree on this point but I believe they must not have a clear understanding of the facts.
Once you’ve read the book and take the emotional side out of the argument it was the logical, reasonable and rational decision to make and it was the only course of action. Once thing is certain, LeMay’s overall military strategy was and still is the best one ever conceived to preserve peace, freedom and limit causalities in the time of war. Simply put, its peace through strength, and if dragged into a military conflict he firmly believed the US should use every resource available and end it as quickly as possible to save lives. In 1980 a man named Ronald Reagan echoed that same philosophy and it lead to the end of the Cold War in 1992.
LeMay was forced to retire as Joint Chief for the Air Force in 1965 because he didn’t agree with Robert McNamara’s military strategy of “flexible response” or “limited warfare” in Vietnam. LeMay from the start of the conflict believed a massive bombing campaign in Hanoi and on the ports in North Vietnam where they were being supplied would be the most effective way to end the war quickly and save America and Vietnamese lives in the process just as it had worked to end WWII.
JFK, Johnson and particularly McNamara didn’t see it that way and felt that the civilian casualties that would pile up with a massive bombing campaign would be to unpopular with Americans and the Russians and Chinese would join in if a broader air war was employed. Obviously civilian casualties would have been unavoidable but the overall loss of life would have been tremendously reduced.
From the time LaMay become a Joint Chief in 1961 under JFK until 1965 when he was forced out he strongly urged for a very aggressive bombing campaign up to and including the possibly of using nuclear weapons. The nuke was really the last option for him but he believed and rightfully so that instead bombing them with tons of explosives and incendiaries would end the war in a matter of months instead of years of a bloody ground campaign. He tried unsuccessfully again and again to convince the trio that bombing would end the world or bring them to the table for peace negations.
3 years after his retirement and still upset about the US’s war strategy he wrote his memoir entitled Mission by LeMay, in it he was quoted as saying this about the Vietnam War, “My solution to the problem would be to tell the North Vietnamese Communists frankly that they've got to draw in their horns and stop their aggression or we're going to bomb them into the Stone Age.”
Later, after the book was published, he denied saying this and claimed his Biographer embellished his words and came up with the quote himself. No matter the quote is one that was in his book so he had to own it for the rest of his life. His detractors always lead with this statement when describing him and not his brilliant military career. Whether he did say it or not it’s likely something LaMay would have said in a private conversation given his views on warfare and as future events unfolded he was absolutely right.
On Christmas Day in 1972 Nixon ordered the biggest bombardment conducted by the US Air Force since the end of World War II on North Vietnam. US B-52’s dropped at least 20,000 tons of explosives on Hanoi. Operation Linebacker II was Nixon's attempt to hasten the end of the Vietnam War, as the growing strength of the Viet Cong caused heavy casualties among US ground troops. On January 8, 1973 all parties were back in the negotiating room in Paris. The Paris Peace Accords were signed by the end of the month. The assault brought about a deal that was signed a month later and it led to the end of US involvement in the war.
LaMay was proven right, in the end he had a huge dose of vindication, when his bombing strategy was finally deployed to bring the war to end only it was 11 years too late and after many lives had been lost. It’s a tragedy that the US didn’t start a big bombing campaign in the early 60’s and countless lives would have been saved on both sides.
58,282 Americans died and another 153,303 Americans were wounded in action in Vietnam. 95,000-430,000 South Vietnamese civilians and 50,000-65,000 North Vietnamese civilians died in the war. And a staggering 1,100,000 North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong military personnel deaths were reported by North Vietnam.
LeMay was a military genius and his defense policy and military strategies keep America safe during his tenure of military service. It’s an absolute tragedy that Kennedy and Johnson didn’t listen to him about Vietnam. He wanted to win it and save American lives just as he did in WWII. In my opinion he’s a Hero and nothing can tarnish what has to be one of the greatest leaders this country has ever produced. God Bless you LeMay, I thank you for the freedom men like you passed onto my generation.
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