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I was somewhat amazed, a few years back, when I read a biography of Curtis E. LeMay, the Army Air Force general who commanded the Pacific air operations including the atomic bomb missions. It turns out that LeMay himself had doubts that the bomb was necessary: He was convinced (and he above anyone, almost including Douglas MacArthur, was in a perfect position to surmise) that the air operations against mainland Japan were successful enough that the war was liable to end shortly enough anyway. LeMay, of course, was never the type of airman who would disobey a superior's order himself, but considering his popular and somewhat misshapen image as Mr. Big Bang - the guy who'd have loved nothing more than having a blast, and the more megatons the better (this largely due to his ghostwritten autobiography, in which his ghostwriter erroneously attributed to LeMay's pen the infamous remark about "nuking the Chinks" and "bombing North Vietnam back to the Stone Age") - that was one of the most intriguing revelations I ever had about LeMay.

Having served in Strategic Air Command, of blessed memory, from 1982-87, God only knows there was a Curtis LeMay story around every corner of Offutt Air Force Base. My personal favourite - and it is a true story - involves the day LeMay walked stone cold onto the flight line at Offutt, unannounced and half out of uniform, until a very nervous SAC Elite Guard member (who recognised LeMay immediately) stopped him cold, drew his pistol, and cocked it right in LeMay's face. "Sir, I am advised to instruct you that if you take one step further without the proper authorisation, I am within my power to blow your head off."

What did you just say?? LeMay all but screamed in the guard's face. The guard, it was said, kept his posture - and his gun in LeMay's face - while behind his uniform turning into Jell-O. Knowing full enough that it could mean a trip to Leavenworth (LeMay was alleged to have ordered a court martial for an aide who put the wrong brand of Scotch on his Air Force plane!), the shaking guard repeated his first statement word for word, pulling back the hammer on his gun. "And just where the hell did you get an order like that?" LeMay demanded. "From the commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command," replied the guard.

LeMay turned to the man who accompanied him - who turned out to have been his personal executive officer - and ordered the frightened guard promoted two grade levels post haste. That, LeMay said, doing his best to grin (LeMay was troubled for his entire adult life by Bell's palsy, giving him the fierce natural expression for which he is best remembered), is what I want on this flight line, from my flight line guards! Or something like that. That's the story, though depending on who you heard it from, the kid was said to have fainted on the spot.

Having served in Strategic Air Command, of blessed memory, from 1982-87, God only knows there was a Curtis LeMay story around every corner of Offutt Air Force Base. My personal favourite - and it is a true story - involves the day LeMay walked stone cold onto the flight line at Offutt, unannounced and half out of uniform, until a very nervous SAC Elite Guard member (who recognised LeMay immediately) stopped him cold, drew his pistol, and cocked it right in LeMay's face. "Sir, I am advised to instruct you that if you take one step further without the proper authorisation, I am within my power to blow your head off."

What did you just say?? LeMay all but screamed in the guard's face. The guard, it was said, kept his posture - and his gun in LeMay's face - while behind his uniform turning into Jell-O. Knowing full enough that it could mean a trip to Leavenworth (LeMay was alleged to have ordered a court martial for an aide who put the wrong brand of Scotch on his Air Force plane!), the shaking guard repeated his first statement word for word, pulling back the hammer on his gun. "And just where the hell did you get an order like that?" LeMay demanded. "From the commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command," replied the guard.

LeMay turned to the man who accompanied him - who turned out to have been his personal executive officer - and ordered the frightened guard promoted two grade levels post haste. That, LeMay said, doing his best to grin (LeMay was troubled for his entire adult life by Bell's palsy, giving him the fierce natural expression for which he is best remembered), is what I want on this flight line, from my flight line guards! Or something like that. That's the story, though depending on who you heard it from, the kid was said to have fainted on the spot.

The pistol was already cocked, no need to do it again.