THE MEN WHO DECIDE OUR DESTINIES
jEN. CURTIS LeMAY-
'Old Iron Pants"
Holds the Fort
By CURTIS MITCHELL
"JJWm;0
!The curtness of the Air Force chief of staff
enrages many officials, but all Americans sleep
I easier because this dedicated general is on the job
?
Gen. LeMay and his wife Helen enjoy the large
patio behind their home at Fort Myer, Virginia.
Allied ground generals wanted to drive a tank
column down the railroad track to Berlin. But
LeMay conceived the notion of "winged freight
ers," argued for it, and won. The result was the
Berlin airlift, and the lead pilot of the first plane
to run the gauntlet was "Old Iron Pants."
Given command of all Uncle Sam's bombers,
he expanded the Strategic Air Force from 600
to 3,000 atom-bomb carriers. Blunt and curt, he
got results, but many of his superiors said he
was too prickly for the give-and-take of supreme
command. Yet, he was made Deputy Chief of
Staff and then, in 1961, he became top man of
the entire Air Force.
Today, he still holds that job. To many, this
is a small miracle because he and Secretary of
Defense McNamara are often at odds. When the
Administration's test-ban treaty came before
the Senate a few weeks ago, all the Chiefs of Staff
testified that they were backing it but only
LeMay let it be known that, if the treaty hadn't
already been signed, he probably would have op
posed it In any administration but particularly
in one where team play is emphasized such re
calcitrance does not go over too well.
But winning or losing, LeMay is still in the
thick of every defense decision, except when he
withdraws to his home and his hobbies.
Another Kind of Prfctionit
Quarters Seven at Fort Myer, across the river
from Washington, D.C., is the LeMay domicile.
It is a far cry from the crowded house in Colum
bus, Ohio, where he was born and lived with five
sisters and brothers, his gentle mother, and his
French-Canadian father. Quarters Seven, one of
a row of brick residences, is unique in at least
two respects: it is surrounded by a beautiful gar
den, and its mistress is Helen LeMay.
Helen Maitland LeMay, who married the young
pilot in 1934, is blonde, charming, talented, ener
getic, and a full partner in their busy home life.
"When we learned we had to move here," she
says, "I planted two gardens at the old house,
one to stay and one to move. When the time
came, I brought along my 'moving' bulbs." You
enter the house under a canopy of roses.
"Floribunda that bloom all summer," she ex
plains. "I've moved them from one house to an
other four times."
The extensive beds of manicured irises and i
miniature marigolds create an impression of j
many servants. But Helen LeMay sets a visitor
( Continued on page 7)
Family Weekly, Snilrmtwr 29, IX) S
i