Date

Dec 17, 1946

Description

U.S. Navy Commodore Arleigh A. Burke, writes to Vice Admiral Blandy, commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Command, about a gathering for members of the Armed Services at the Princess Anne Country Club. The heart of the memo is a lengthy paraphrase of a short but fiery speech made by General Armstrong, the Deputy Commander of the Armed Forced Staff College, which illustrates the Air Force’s (or at least Armstrong’s) unvarnished ambitions at the time not only to be its own independent department but to become “a predominant force” within the U.S. military. In the last paragraph, Burke mentions “Admiral Forrestal,” but it should be noted that this is in reference to Rear Admiral Emmet Forrestel, the commander of the Norfolk Naval Base and Station, not Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal.

As a sidenote, General Armstrong was the primary inspiration for the character Brigadier General Frank Savage in Twelve O’clock High, a 1949 American war film starring Gregory Peck (and a later TV series starring Robert Lansing) about aircrews in the United States Army’s Eighth Air Force, who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and Occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The name “Savage” was inspired by Armstrong’s Cherokee heritage. Many of the training and disciplinary scenes in Twelve O’Clock High also derive from Armstrong’s experience commanding the 306th Bomb Group.

Source

Arleigh Burke Papers-Pre-CNO Personal File, Operational Archives, NHHC

Document published in following posting(s):

The National Security Act Turns 75

Jul 26, 2022

Memorandum, United States Atlantic Fleet, Commodore Arleigh A. Burke to Vice Admiral William H.P. Blandy, Subject: Remarks made by Brigadier General Frank A. Armstrong, Jr., of the Army Air Forces at Princess Anne Country Club, 17 December 1946, [Unclassified]