What would LeMay say?

[PJ_Godzilla]

I just had a crazy thought for a good new topic. It's a two-parter.

First, you name the issue of the day. Then you write a quote relvant to that issue channeling General Curtis LeMay.

Here's a famous quote from the latter:

Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier.

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/curtis_lemay.html#F5pxM65MTUpFYYfC.99

So, here, let's address the Ukriane issue with a made-up LeMay quote:

"No doubt your average Russian is tough enough, but, let's face it, subject even the toughest flesh to the heat and blast of a thermonuclear weapon and, guess which one is going to win?"

Disclaimer: I'm not advocating ANYTHING. I just think LeMay, were he around today, would have some pretty damned entertaining things to say.

[rpm]

[Rich46yo]

LeMay was an interesting character. Some called him a "wind bag" but "wind bags" are not fearless battle leaders like he was. He did not suffer fools and would not tolerate any questioning of his orders or exuses. At the same time he was innovative and willing to change tactics that werent working. Friendly casualties were not a great concern to him unless they deprived him of badly needed air craft. I always thought the part Gregory Peck played in "12 Oclock High" was meant to be Le May. It shows you what a hard nose he was. And a dang courageous one. He was the U.S Grant of the air war. His strategy was to just "grind them down".

But also highly innovative. Correct me if Im wrong but he changed the B29 bombing strategy to low level incendiaries and the first Jap city to go was Tokyo. He caught them totally by surprise by bombing them low level at night, removing the guns from the bombers, and burned down almost the entire city in the most destructive raid in history. Later he led the charge to get USAF separate. I also think he was the one who saved the AR-15 from obscurity by making the first order for his Air Police.

He was a realist. But a far better general then he would have made as a Politician. I dont think any of the great battle generals would have made good Politicians. They didnt really believe in the Democratic method they were fighting for.

[PJ_Godzilla]

Indeed, he did change tactics w/r the bombing of Japan. My own take is that war is a dirty business and LeMay was brutally honest about the nature of it. I'd liken him to WT Sherman in outlook, rather than Grant.

"So, we get about a thousand ni-ju-kyus, see? We strip off everything they don't need - guns, excess fuel, superfluous crew, see? We replace all that deadweight with incendiaries and we roll 'em in low and slow, so big that Tojo can smell the exhaust. Let 'em suck on that one for a while. Think of it as a wall-to-wall carpet of jagged steel and white phosphorous, courtesy of USAF interior Decorating. "

Just channeling...

[Oldman731]

I always thought the part Gregory Peck played in "12 Oclock High" was meant to be Le May.

Frank Savage is a composite of Frank Armstrong and Fred Castle.

- oldman

[rpm]

Col Jack Ripper was based on LeMay.

[PJ_Godzilla]

Yes, and this year, Dr. Strangelove hit the big 5-0.

[FLOOB]

Indeed. What would Lynn Lemay say?

[Shifty]

Lemay was the right man for the job in WWII. After that I really think he was a loose cannon just looking for a place to go boom.
We need cooler heads in this day and time.

[RotBaron]

LeMay was an interesting character. Some called him a "wind bag" but "wind bags" are not fearless battle leaders like he was. He did not suffer fools and would not tolerate any questioning of his orders or exuses. At the same time he was innovative and willing to change tactics that werent working. Friendly casualties were not a great concern to him unless they deprived him of badly needed air craft. I always thought the part Gregory Peck played in "12 Oclock High" was meant to be Le May. It shows you what a hard nose he was. And a dang courageous one. He was the U.S Grant of the air war. His strategy was to just "grind them down".

But also highly innovative. Correct me if Im wrong but he changed the B29 bombing strategy to low level incendiaries and the first Jap city to go was Tokyo. He caught them totally by surprise by bombing them low level at night, removing the guns from the bombers, and burned down almost the entire city in the most destructive raid in history. Later he led the charge to get USAF separate. I also think he was the one who saved the AR-15 from obscurity by making the first order for his Air Police.

He was a realist. But a far better general then he would have made as a Politician. I dont think any of the great battle generals would have made good Politicians. They didnt really believe in the Democratic method they were fighting for.

Uh, was it not Eisenhower that said '...all generals are politicians' ??

[Widewing]

LeMay was the leading advocate of bombing missile sites in Cuba, along with a ground invasion... Either of those actions would likely have led to an exchange of nuclear weapons. LeMay understood diplomacy like a groundhog understands quantum physics. I'm sure that if he had the option, he would have chased the squirrels out of his bird feeder with a bazooka.

[PJ_Godzilla]

LeMay was the leading advocate of bombing missile sites in Cuba, along with a ground invasion... Either of those actions would likely have led to an exchange of nuclear weapons. LeMay understood diplomacy like a groundhog understands quantum physics. I'm sure that if he had the option, he would have chased the squirrels out of his bird feeder with a bazooka.

This is very close to my intended response(s).

"THese damn squirrels, they're horning in on the bird-feeder - but they're not supposed to be there, see? Like most wrongdoers, though, they never count on somebody being there to slap them down for getting all uppitty. That's why I've got Matilda here <fondly patting bazooka>. Now stand clear of the exhaust, Mister, or your face will end up looking like an overcooked weenie at a Fourth of July barbecue."

[Rich46yo]

Uh, was it not Eisenhower that said '...all generals are politicians' ??

Ike was, but the "Battle generals" werent. Remember Ike never once saw action in his career. Not in WW1 or WW2, but most of all it was WW1 that was a constant source of embarrassment to him and was used to snipe at him behind his back. Monty, MacArthur, Patton, Churchill, Marshall, Clark, Arnold, Eacker, and most lesser Generals, either all saw action in WW1, the Philippines,WW2, or did crazy training stuff in airplanes. Where'as Ike never did and he was as good as he was "exactly because" he was a politician. But he was embarrassed by it and the others belittled him because of it.

Generals, especially those guys, dont like doing anything by committee and sure as hell have no interest in answering to the public. I suppose they have to have some acumen but I believe they secretly despise the process. Really its a good lesson on why the Military should always be answerable to the people.

[PJ_Godzilla]

Actually, I buy Rich's assertion here over Rot's. MacArthur wasn't much of a pol either - and famously ran into trouble for it during that little Korean thing (where he and LeMay were undoubtedly of like mind w/r how to deal with the China "issue").

Or, perhaps a little unifiing clarification is in order. Wasn't it Nietszche who said, "war is state policy by other means"? War is implicitly political, therefore, it's agent is a politician? But that's something totally different from how we normally think of (domestic, at least) politucs.