The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General Ira Clarence Eaker - Jan. 12th, 2004

Handbook of Texas ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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General Ira Clarence Eaker
(1896-1987)

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Ira Clarence Eaker, aviation pioneer and United States Air Force general, was born on April 13, 1896, at Field Creek, Texas, the eldest of five boys born to Young Yancy and Dona Lee (Graham) Eaker. In 1906 the family moved to Concho County, where they spent three years in the rural community of Hills before moving to a farm a mile outside of Eden. They moved to southeastern Oklahoma in 1912 and returned to Eden ten years later. Ira attended public school at Hills, in Eden, and in Kenefic, Oklahoma. He graduated from Southeastern State Teachers College (now Southeastern Oklahoma State University) at Durant, Oklahoma, and entered the United States Army in 1917.

Eaker was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry Section, Officers Reserve Corps, on August 15, 1917, and assigned to the Sixty-fourth Infantry at Fort Bliss, Texas. He received a similar commission in the regular army on October 26, 1917. His aviation experience began in March 1918, when he was directed to attend ground school at the University of Texas in Austin and flight training at Kelly Field at San Antonio. He received his pilot rating and a promotion to first lieutenant on July 17, 1918. After training, he was sent to Rockwell Field, California, where he met Col. H. H. "Hap" Arnold and Maj. Carl A. "Tooey" Spaatz, two men with whom he had a close military relationship for the rest of his life. In July 1919 he was appointed commander of the Second Aero Squadron and sent to the Philippines for a two-year tour. In 1920 he was reassigned as commander of the Third Aero Squadron and promoted to captain. Upon return to the United States in 1921 he was assigned to Mitchel Field, New York; while there, he attended Columbia Law School. He subsequently spent three years to the staff of Maj. Gen. Mason M. Patrick, chief of air service, in Washington, D.C.


January 1929, Major Carl Spaatz, USAAC, with Captain Ira Eaker as relief pilot, shown at left, and a crew of three, set a refueling endurance record of 150 hours 40 minutes in the Fokker C2-3 transport "Question Mark", flying over the Los Angeles Airport. This Fokker is now in the NASM exhibit. In 1936, Major Eaker helped pioneer blind flying techniques as he flew from New York to Los Angeles relying on instruments alone. He became a Brigadier General in 1940.

Captain Eaker was one of ten pilots chosen to make the Pan American Goodwill Flight in 1926. During the flight both members of one crew died in a crash. Eaker and his copilot were the only team to complete the entire 23,000-mile itinerary, which included stops in twenty-three countries. The flight left San Antonio on December 21 and ended at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., where President Calvin Coolidge presented the pilots with the Distinguished Flying Cross, a new award authorized by Congress just a few months earlier. In 1929 Eaker, with Tooey Spaatz and Elwood R. Quesada (both of whom were later generals), flew a Fokker tri-motor named the Question Mark for 150 hours, 40 minutes, and 15 seconds, shuttling between Los Angeles and San Diego, refueling with a hose lowered from a Douglas C-1. They set an endurance record that endured for many years. In 1930 Eaker flew the first transcontinental flight that depended solely on aerial refueling. Eaker was promoted to major in 1935. Beginning on June 2, 1936, he flew blind under a hood from Mitchel Field, New York, to March Field, Riverside, California. Maj. William E. Kepner (who also became a general) flew alongside in this experiment in instrument flight as a safety observer. He stated that Eaker "was under the hood and flying blind" the entire time except for eight take-offs and landings.


The crew of the Question Mark:
Maj. Spaatz, Capt. Eaker, Lt. Halverson, Lt. Quesado, and MSgt.Hooe.

During the middle to late 1930s Eaker attended the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama, and the Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He also served on the Air Staff in Washington. He was promoted to full colonel in December 1941 and to brigadier general in January 1942, when he was assigned to England to form and command the Eighth Bomber Command. He was instrumental in the development and application of daylight precision bombing in the European Theater. This tactic was a major factor in the defeat of the Germans. In December 1942 Eaker became commander of the Eighth Air Force in England. On September 13, 1943, he received promotion to lieutenant general, and on October 15, 1943, he assumed overall command of both American air forces in the United Kingdom, the Eighth and the Ninth. He took over as commander of the joint Mediterranean Allied Air Forces on January 15, 1944. With 321,429 officers and men and 12,598 aircraft, MAAF was the world's largest air force. On March 22, 1945, Eaker was transferred back to Washington to become deputy chief of the army air force under Gen. H. H. Arnold. In that position, representing the air force, he transmitted the command from President Harry Truman to General Spaatz, who was then commanding the Pacific Air Forces, to drop the atomic bomb on Japan. Eaker announced his plans to retire from the army in mid-June 1947, saying that he felt he could do more to provide security for the United States out of uniform.



After retirement he was associated with Hughes Aircraft from 1947 to 1957. In 1957 he became a corporate director of Douglas Aircraft Company, a post he held until 1961, when he returned to Hughes as a consultant, with the freedom to pursue a long-desired goal of being a journalist. He had already coauthored three books with H. H. Arnold: This Flying Game (1936), Winged Warfare (1941), and Army Fliers (1942). In 1964 he began a newspaper column in the San Angelo Standard Times that continued for eighteen years and was syndicated by Copley News Services in 700 newspapers. In 1974 he transferred to the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. He wrote from the point of view of a military man on security matters. Between 1957 and 1981, 329 of his articles appeared in military periodicals. In 1972 he became the founding president of the United States Strategic Institute.



Among his more than fifty decorations were the Congressional Gold Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Order of the Partisan Star (First Class), the Silver Star, and the Wright Trophy; he was also made a Knight of the British Empire. He was promoted from lieutenant general to general by an act of Congress in 1985.



Eaker married Leah Chase about 1930; the couple had no children, and the marriage ended in divorce the year it began. On November 23, 1931, he married Ruth Huff Apperson. General Eaker died on August 6, 1987, at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. He was survived by his wife.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! And it feels soooooooo good!

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. I figured it would. Just behave yourself and stay out of trouble. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

West has a heavy Czech ancestry. The Kalaches from the 'Czech Stop" on I-35 are legendary in most of Texas.

Thanks PE, somehow I never think of any kind of European ancestry when I think of Texans.

[SAMWolf]

We're going through a similar thing in Oregon, snow and ice for a week and now its all melting. The grounds too saturated to hold any more runoff.

[Light Speed]

Morning : )

How important..if not critical was it to have a General Eaker at the helm of the Mighty 8TH during the difficult months of 1943 and early 44..when combat losses abounded...when pressures came to generate solutions to an air campaign coming under criticism.

Formidable Fortress, by Robert Bailey

December 31st., 1944. B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 'Bloody Hundredth' attack an oil refinery near Hamburg while under attack from 262 jets, Me 109's and Fw 190's. The 100th. Bomb Group lost 12 planes on this mission. Aircraft depicted in this print include the lead aircraft (no name), "White Cargo" (second aircraft), and "The All American Girl"in Olive Drab paint (third aircraft).

The Eighth Bomber Command (Later redesignated 8th AF in February 1944) activated as part of the U.S. Army Air Forces Jan . 28, 1942, at Hunter Field in Savannah, Ga. Brig. Gen. Ira C Eaker took the headquarters to England the next month to prepare for its mission to conduct aerial bombardment mission against Nazi-occupied Europe.During World War 2,under the leadership of such generals as Eaker and Jimmy Doolittle, 8th AF became the greatest air armada in history.By mid-1944 ,8th AF had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people ( it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans served in 8th AF during the war in Europe ) . At its peak , 8th AF could dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and 1,000 fighters on a single mission . For these reasons , 8th AF became known as the "Mighty Eighth".

The Mighty Eighth compiled an impressive record in the war . This achievement , however , carried a high price . Eight AF suffered half of the U.S Army Air Forces' casualties in World War 2 ( 47,000-plus casualties with more than 26,000 dead ) . The Eighth's personnel also earned 17 Medals of Honor , 220 Distinguished Service Crosses , 850 Silver Stars , 7,000 Purple Hearts 46,000 Air Medals .Many more uncounted awards were presented to the 8 AF veterans after the war . There were 261 fighter aces and 305 gunner aces in the Eighth in World War 2 , and 31 fighter aces had more than 15 or more aircraft kills.

North American P-51D Mustang
375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group
8th U.S. Army Air Force

[CholeraJoe]

Good morning, snippy. I was in stealth mode.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Colonel Flagg. Well, I'm glad Eaker didin';t go along with the nighttime bombing, our planes weren't designed for it and the crews weren't trained for it. Besides, IMHO, as costly as it was, precision daylight bombing was a heck of a lot better than the night area bombing the Brits did.

[SAMWolf]

Simply because I understand electricity

That makes you a wizard in my book.

[SAMWolf]

Just behave yourself and stay out of trouble

ME????????

[Professional Engineer]

Germans are probably best represented in Texas. Especially in the "Hill Country" around Austin and central Texas.

Admiral Nimitz came from tje hill country town of Fredricksburg. Someday I'll stop long enough to go through the naval museum there.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Light Speed. There was some pressure being applied to stop the daylight raids altogether. People like Eaker were the ones that argued against satopping and kept the campaign going at a time where it almost looked like it had failed.

[SAMWolf]

I figured on some Germans, cuz I've heard of the Texas style OktoberFest.

[Professional Engineer]

Cool graphic. Thanks Sam.

I am Wizard, See me crackle!

[Darksheare]

LOL!

[SAMWolf]

if you're gonna be a Wizard you may a well be a cool one. :-)

[Professional Engineer]

LOL. I can replace my old self-portrait now.

[Light Speed]

Hi Sam: )

Some testimony and photos from *Danish Mermaid a B-17 with the 400th Bomb Group.

Danish Mermaid just after takeoff towards Northern france taking by our maintaince crew chief....In Formation and on the way from the Rally point to Germany.

Mission 1: ABBEVILLE

First Mission for The maid and the boys ....They said It would be a Milk run, well it wasn't. Good weather over the channel with a Heavy little friends escort. As we entered the targetarea we got the attention of 4 Me109's head on. A Thunderbolt drove one off and the other dived past onto the 401st below us. Lt Joe Jensen our bombardier in the nose tore the wing off one ME109 ,as it flicked past. However the last Me109 ripped up the Pilots compartment Killing Lt Danny Olsen , the co-pilot , by my side. This yellow nosed Me109 attacked again and again , always from the front,targeting the pilots area every time before he went for another fort. All 50 cal fire missed him on all passes. The Flak was light and we had no trouble hitting the airfield , although Joe was a bit to the left. The return was similar , 3 Me109's head on , but all missed and went after "Strange Weather" and "Dixie Delight". Approaching the white cliffs and England the number 2 engine burst into flames as oil tank caught. Luckily I managed to extinguish it the first time. Sgt Alvin Erikson took Danny's place at the stick for the return trip. We will do better next time I guess......

Captain Pedersen
Pilot
Danish Mermaid

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Mission 2:Braunschweig

Ya …Mmm.....Well let me see…..Fine weather all the way ..The fighter escort was real good across the north sea, One lone FW 190 raked us knocking a chunk out of the tail But our Bombadier Joe Jensen Nailed him on his second pass.Sgt Eriksen says he got it but I think he just winged it.We got all way into Germany without any trouble , The germans were going for the low Squadron , the 400th , the poor sobs.Just North of BIELFELD we hit trouble. Three Me110's hit us from all sides...I still can't believe that both the tail AND the ball missed that guy on our six .The others Me110's missed us ,but that six Me110 did us good.Knocked out our top turret guns , gave us a minor fuel tank hit and knocked out the heating for the bombardier and Navigator & then he headed for home.Approaching BRAUNSCHWEIG we got five FW190 on us in an all round attack. I ordered Spray firing to drive them off.Sgt kernan Our ball gunner damaged One 190 and our port waist Sgt Hewrwitz Finishing him off with spray fire , unbelivable.Most of the FW's missed and dived past us .Radio rooms guns jammed due to spray firing.But ...well ..the two head on FW190 filled us full of lead , You should see the holes, they didn't hit anything ..yah well apart from our new Co-pilot Lt Mark Doherty ..yep..dead.But the tail gunner Nielsen got that german as he rolled past him , blew him up he said.Scratch one FW190, don't make up For Lt.doherty though.Second pass the surviving Fw190 was damaged by the ball gunner with spray fire and dived away. We got a second wave of Me109's head on , they smashed the nose gun and twanged the wing good.But we missed everyone of them ,they went after our tail plane .Flak was real light. By now Our Navigator , Lt larsen couldn't feel his feet but our Bombardier Joe Jensen was fine and let them Bombs go ! The Ball Gunner and others went nuts ,they say Joe hit the Factory Dead On !!! We exited the Bomb run and had a scuffle with some Me109's Sgt Kernan ,our ball gunner, Nailed One ; the rest missed us and peeled off. Just then the oil tank on engine number 2 quit and froze the engine, we feathered it .We headed home.North of OSNABRUCK we had a head on attack by a flight of Me109's as they dived past us fast but the tail gunner caught one and damaged him. We made it across to the north sea just Fine . Our bombardier hands were in bad shape now , he had taken his gloves off to bomb.Then we were jumped by 4 Me109's from all directions , Our ball gunner splashed one , the waist gunner jammed his gun using spray fire .The tail guns were destroyed but the gunner was okay, Radio hit , intercom smashed, multplie tail hits, they came round for a second pass , we had no top , tail , nose , or port waist guns. We thought this was it for sure.Luckily they missed us , ALL of them .Phewww.Last part was bad , no guns hardly and 3 engines .The RAF drove off a FW190 and his buddy that were lining up on us near the coast after that it was a walk in the park.....I guess we'll try to do better next time ...

Captain Pedersen
Pilot
Danish Mermaid

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Mission 3: HAMM

After all the bad rumours about hamm from last the 400th went there , we were pretty tense .However the first leg out was quiet enough , plenty of little friends about. Soon as we hit the Dutch coastline trouble started..three Me109’s head on .The engineer torn one up and then it was their turn tearing off the starboard wing aireloen and some other minor hits.The tail gunner smoked , damaged that is , one Me109 as he passed him by :The remaining Me109 headed for the 401st below us. We pushed further in having no more trouble ourselves until we approached the bomb run , we saw some other ships get it though.

Then we were jumped by a Me110 , in a vertical climb plus a focke wolf head on .The Me110 guy seemed to hesitate and was driven off. The FW190 hit us and was taken out by the tail gunner as he roared by. Flak was light and no damage was taken except for our pride as we bounced through the flak. Our new bombardier Lt Hedstrom from Minnesota showed his stuff , The ball gunner Sgt kernan reported that ” it was a direct hit on the kraut dairy industry and farm complex’s to the east of Hamm rail junction….terrific Lootenaut!!”.Target was missed by up to 2 miles according to other planes .In a loose formation we made the turn . jumped by four fw190’s , front , starboard , and port side. Two pressed home their attack getting walking hits on the wings and multiple hits all over the plane. The top gunner and Port waist gunner both damaged one each and on the second wave attack by the 2 aircraft we took many hits again , The tail gunner again flamed one FW190 .Damage was amazingly light , lucky for us. Over Holland more 109’s and a few 190’s The new bombardier shot the tail off a FW190 and together the starboard waist gunner and Ball gunner Sgt kernan damaged and Swiss cheesed a ME109.Over the Dutch coastline the formation was pounced on again three FW190 tearing through from the front , all went after other planes with the tail gunner clipping one as they raced by.

After that we RV’ed with our fighter escorts (P38’s) and had a safe flight back…I made the landing under Captain pedersen Watchful eye, some mistakes and the undercarriage was damaged slightly .The crew were bumped around some , Cpt Pedersen says I can do better next time , likewise the new Bombardier Lt.Hedstrom.

Lt.John Bojsen
Co-Pilot
Danish Mermaid

FW190 Seen from cockpit head on .....note the twin tracers from the top turret..Luckily this guy missed and banked to port.

[snippy_about_it]

Stealth mode. Aha! How are the pups and did they miss you terribly while you were on vacation?

[snippy_about_it]

ME???

LOL. What was I thinking. Nevermind. ;-)

[Colonel_Flagg]

No choice. I'm so sore I can't move. :)