The firebombing of Tokyo. Strategic Air Command. Dr. Strangelove. George Wallace. All of these have one person in common: General Curtis LeMay--the most misunderstood military man in 20th century history.
Until now.
In his brand-new book, LEMAY: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay, military biographer Warren Kozak traces the trajectory of America's most innovative--and vilified--military commander.
General Curtis LeMay is perhaps the most infamous general of the 20th century. Despite playing a major role in many important military events of the last century--from defeating Japan without a costly land invasion to being on the Joint Chiefs during the Cuban Missile Crisis--historians have been content to paint LeMay as a crude, trigger-happy, cigar-chomping general who joined political forces with one of the most famous racists in American history, George Wallace.
However, in LEMAY, Kozak reveals the LeMay that only those close to him knew--a commander who was gruff yet compassionate, brilliant, and accomplished. InLEMAY, you'll learn:
- How LeMay devised the plan to use incendiary bombs over Japan that killed hundreds of thousands but saved millions from an impending ground invasion
- How he turned the Strategic Air Command from a dismal failure into the deadliest fighting force in history
- Who really came up with the idea of bombing the North Vietnamese back into "the Stone Age"
- Why LeMay agreed to be George Wallace's running mate in the election of 1968--despite loathing Wallace and most of his policies
Giving an unprecedented glimpse into the might and mind of perhaps the most controversial general in our nation's history, Kozak shows why today, more than ever, America needs another man like Curtis LeMay.
LeMay argued that the United States should launch 5,000 missiles on the Soviet Union. He was convinced this would destroy their 350 nuclear missiles and therefore prevent an attack on the United States. John F. Kennedy and Robert McNamara rejected this strategy as immoral.
On 13th March, 1962, General Lyman Lemnitzer, with the support of Lemay, presented Robert McNamarawith a top-secret memo, urging President Kennedy to order a variety of shocking incidents to create a rationale for invading Cuba. Code named Operation Northwoods, the memo suggested that the administration should arrange a terror campaign in Miami and Washington that would create international revulsion against the government of Fidel Castro.
from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlemay.htm
BTW, here's the OCR version of the Northwoods Document.
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