World War II: Carl A. Spaatz Born

June 28, 1891 - Future Chief of the Staff of the US Air Force Carl A. Spaatz (right) is born at Boyertown, PA. Graduating from West Point in 1914, he promptly applied for aviation school and was accepted the following year. Training as a pilot, he served with the 1st Aero Squadron during General John J. Pershing's Mexican expedition in 1916. With the outbreak of World War I, Spaatz first served at the US aviation school at Issoundun, France before transferring to a fighter squadron. A skilled pilot, he downed three enemy aircraft during his brief tour at the front. Moving through various assignments during the interwar years, Spaatz rose through the ranks. In 1940, he was tapped by Major General Henry Arnold to serve as an observer with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. In 1942, he was named the commander of the US Eighth Air Force and oversaw the unit's movement to Great Britain and its early operations. After spending 1943, commanding Allied aircraft in the Mediterranean, he was named the head of US Strategic Air Forces in Europe in January 1944. In this role, he led the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. With the Nazis' surrender in May 1945, Spaatz was transferred to become the commander of US Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific. Based in Guam, he guided the final aerial campaigns against Japan as well as the dropping of the atom bombs. With the retirement of Arnold, Spaatz was named commanding general of the US Army Force in February 1946. The following year, with the establishment of the US Air Force as a separate service, he was named Chief of Staff for the US Air Force. Carl Spaatz retired in June 1948.

Photograph Courtesy of the US Air Force