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Finally, a definitive biography of General Curtis LeMay

"... a fine, candid book ..." --R. James Woolsey, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency

"... an excellent biography." --James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense

"Warren Kozak has captured brilliantly the essence of one of America’s greatest generals and combat commanders." --Lt. General Thomas McInerney, retired, former assistant vice chief of staff of the United States Air Force

Photo Gallery

Erving and Arizona LeMay with their growing family, around 1916. Curtis is standing next to his mother.

LeMay's Model-T Ford -- a handyman’s special he kept as an undergraduate at Ohio State.

The graduating air cadet class, 1929. LeMay is third from left.

LeMay with Amelia Earhart at Wheeler Field in Hawaii in 1935. Two years later, she would disappear over the Pacific.

LeMay with his daughter, Janie, 1939.

A rare moment during the war: LeMay relaxing with his bomber crews.


Major General LeMay greets Lt. Col Robert McNamara, an Army Air Forces statistician. Twenty years later, their roles were reversed when McNamara became LeMay’s boss at the Pentagon.

Lt. Ralph Nutter in England, 1943.
"Possum" Hansell (left) and LeMay listen to a pilot named Ashcroft as he recounts a particularly harrowing mission over Europe, 1943.

Curtis and Helen LeMay with Janie in Cleveland on one of his rare visits home during the war.

Surviving B-17s head over the Alps on their way to Africa after the double strike mission at Schweinfurt and Regensburg.

One of the lucky B-17s in Africa after the disastrous Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission, 1943.

LeMay at the controls of a B-17 during the war.

LeMay briefing officers in England on operations surrounding D-Day, June 1944.


Standing on Japanese soil for the first time (keeping his gun handy in case of an ambush). LeMay in Yokohama, prior to the surrender ceremony on the U.S.S. Missouri, September 2, 1945.

Tokyo -- March 10, 1945

LeMay dancing with daughter Janie, 1951

In the White House Rose Garden with President John F. Kennedy greeting foreign air force officers, 1962.
President Lyndon Johnson with Air Force Chief Curtis LeMay at the LBJ ranch in December 1963, just one month after Johnson assumed office.

February 1, 1965. Following the retirement ceremony at the White House with President Johnson, LeMay watches a fly-by in his honor at Andrews Air Force Base, ending 37 years of active duty.