Uzal Girard Ent CBE (March 3, 1900 – March 5, 1948) was an American

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

officer who served as the commander of the Second Air Force during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Biography

Uzal Girard Ent (1900–1948) at West Point in 1924

Ent was born on March 3, 1900, in

Northumberland, Pennsylvania Northumberland is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,804 at the 2010 census. History A brewer named Reuben Haines, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded the town of Northumberland i ...

. He served in the infantry from 1917 to 1919, and was commissioned into the US Air Service from

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

in 1924. In 1927, he married Eleanor Marwitz with whom he would have a son named Girard. On May 30, 1928 he was the co-pilot of a balloon in the National Balloon Race starting at

Bettis Field Bettis Field was an airstrip in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, established in 1924. It was named for U.S. Army Air Corps Lieutenant Cyrus Bettis following his fatal accident on Jack's Mountain near Bellefonte, Pe ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. During the race, Ent's balloon was struck by lightning over

Youngstown, Pennsylvania Youngstown is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Youngstown was incorporated on April 2, 1831. The population was 326 at the 2010 census. The borough has its own post office, with zip code 15696, established on April ...

. The lightning strike killed the pilot and set the balloon's

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...

filled envelope on fire. Ent could have parachuted to safety but, instead, chose to stay with the balloon, attempted to rescue the pilot and successfully piloted the balloon to the ground. For this act of heroism, Ent was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross later that year. After graduating from the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

in 1938 he served as a

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

at the American Embassy,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

from July 1939 until October 1942, acting as the senior neutral military observer on the Peruvian side after their boundary war with

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. He was

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to the U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East from October 1942 until February 1943. He then served as Commanding General,

9th Bomber Command The 19th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force formation. Its last assignment was with Eighth Air Force at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1988. During World War II, the unit was designat ...

9th Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

from February to December 1943, and led 178 B-24s in "

Operation Tidal Wave Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part o ...

" – the bombing raid on the oil fields at Ploieşti, Romania, on August 1, 1943 – before being appointed Chief of Staff and then Commanding General,

2nd Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

, based at

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

, Colorado. In September 1944, it was General Ent who selected Lieutenant Colonel

Paul Tibbets Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (23 February 1915 – 1 November 2007) was a brigadier general in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the aircraft captain who flew the B-29 Superfortress known as the ''Enola Gay'' (named after his moth ...

to put together an organisation and train them to drop atomic weapons from B-29 bombers. Given Tibbets and two other names by General Arnold, General Ent replied without hesitation, "Paul Tibbets is the man to do it." In October 1944, Ent was seriously injured in the crash of a

B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

on takeoff at the

Fort Worth Army Airfield A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, Texas. Paralyzed from the waist down he learned to walk again using

brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal c ...

s. He retired for "disability in line of duty" in 1946, with the rank of major general. After his retirement from military service, he studied to have a future career in law and experimented materials to develop lightweight braces for paraplegics. He was author of the book ''What’s My Score?'', which provided aid to victims of paralysis. He also volunteered for several experimental surgeries in order for surgeons to learn on how to better treat spinal injuries. He died at

Fitzsimons General Hospital Fitzsimons Army Hospital, also known as Fitzsimons General Hospital and renamed Fitzsimons Army Medical Center (FAMC) in 1974, was a U.S. Army facility located on in Aurora, Colorado. The facility opened in 1918 and closed in 1999. The grounds w ...

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in ...

, on March 5, 1948, due to complications from the injuries he sustained in the plane crash. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered over the Riverview Cemetery in his hometown of Northumberland, where a

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

honoring him is also located.

Awards and honors

United States

Cheney Award The Cheney Award is an aviation award presented by the United States Air Force in memory of 1st Lt. William H. Cheney, who was killed in an air collision over Foggia, Italy on January 20, 1918. It was established in 1927, and is awarded to an a ...

Foreign

Other honors

In 1951, an Air Force base opened near Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was named in the general's honor.

Ent Air Force Base Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Girar ...

was the initial home to the

North American Air Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

(NORAD) from 1957 until 1963 when the command center moved to a highly secure facility within Cheyenne Mountain. Ent AFB then became the Ent Annex to the

Cheyenne Mountain Complex The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a Space Force installation and defensive bunker located in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to the city of Colorado Springs, at the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, which hosts the activities o ...

in 1975, and the facility was subsequently closed in 1976. The Ent Credit Union was named in his honor.

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as military service members fought in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign land, waters, or ...

(VFW) Post 8298 in Ent's hometown of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, is named "Major General Uzal G. Ent" to honor his memory.

References

External links

Ent Credit Union

Ent Credit Union – History

Official USAF biography of Maj Gen Ent

Uzal Girard Ent (Find A Grave)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ent, Uzal Girard 1900 births 1948 deaths United States Army Air Forces generals Air Corps Tactical School alumni Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit People from Northumberland, Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces generals of World War II Military personnel from Pennsylvania Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire United States Military Academy alumni Aviators from Pennsylvania United States air attachés American expatriates in Peru Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents