Lyman Louis Lemnitzer (29 August 1899 – 12 November 1988) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

who served as the fourth

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

from 1960 to 1962. He then served as the

Supreme Allied Commander Europe The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) is the commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) and head of ACO's headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). The commander is ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

from 1963 to 1969. As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lemnitzer was responsible for drafting

Operation Northwoods Operation Northwoods was a proposed false flag operation that originated within the Department of Defense of the United States government in 1962. The proposals called for Central Intelligence Agency operatives to both stage and commit acts of t ...

, a proposed plan to create support for military action against

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, by orchestrating

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misrep ...

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

acts in the United States.

Early life and education

Lemnitzer was born on August 29, 1899, in

Honesdale, Pennsylvania Honesdale is a Local government in Pennsylvania#Borough, borough in, and the county seat of, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough's population was 4,458 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Honesdale is lo ...

. He graduated from Honesdale High School in 1917. He then entered the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point, from which he graduated in 1920 with a commission as a second lieutenant in the

United States Army Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artiller ...

Early career

Lemnitzer graduated from the Coast Artillery School in 1921, and then served at

Fort Adams Fort Adams is a former United States Army post in Newport, Rhode Island, Newport, Rhode Island, that was established on July 4, 1799, as a Seacoast defense in the United States#First System, First System Coastal defence and fortification, coas ...

in Rhode Island and in the Philippines. He was an instructor at West Point from 1926 to 1930. Lemnitzer served again in the Philippines from 1934 to 1935, and graduated from the

United States Army 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 1936. He was an instructor at the Coast Artillery School, and graduated from the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

in 1940. At the start of World War II Lemnitzer served with the 70th Coast Artillery Regiment and then the 38th Coast Artillery Brigade. In May 1941, Lemnitzer, then a colonel, was assigned to the War Plans Division of the Army staff, and then to the staff of the Army Ground Forces.

World War II

General Lyman Lemnitzer with his M-16 Rifle

Lemnitzer was promoted to brigadier general in June 1942 and commanded the 34th Coast Artillery Brigade. He was subsequently assigned to General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

's staff, where he helped plan the invasions of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

and was promoted to major general in November 1944. Lemnitzer was one of the senior officers sent to negotiate the

Italian fascist Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

surrender during the secret Operation Sunrise and the German surrender in 1945.

Postwar career

Following the end of World War II, Lemnitzer was assigned to the Strategic Survey Committee of the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

and was later named deputy commandant of the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

. In 1950, at the age of 51, Lemnitzer took

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

training and was placed in command of the 11th Airborne Division. He was assigned to

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

in command of the 7th Infantry Division in November 1951 and was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

in August 1952. Lemnitzer was promoted to the rank of general and named commander-in-chief of Far East Command and of the Eighth Army in March 1955. Stationed in Tokyo, Lemnitzer was the final military governor of Allied-occupied Japan before the American military administration was officially abolished on July 1, 1957. Lemnitzer was appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the Army in June 1957, then Chief of Staff of the Army in July 1959. He was appointed

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: appointment; gra ...

in September 1960 allowing to remain on active duty despite having reached the mandatory retirement age of 60. As chairman, Lemnitzer was involved in the Bay of Pigs crisis and the early years of

United States involvement in the Vietnam War United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. He was also required to testify before the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Foreign Affairs Committee about his knowledge of the activities of Major General Edwin Walker, who had been dismissed from the Army over alleged attempts to promote his political beliefs in the military. As chairman, Lemnitzer approved the plans known as

in 1962, a proposed plan to discredit the Castro regime and create support for military action against

by orchestrating

acts of

and developing "a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington". Lemnitzer presented the plans to Secretary of Defense

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

on 13 March 1962. It is unclear how McNamara reacted, but three days later President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

told the general that there was no chance that the US would take military action against Cuba. Within a few months, after the refusal to endorse Operation Northwoods, Lemnitzer was denied another term as chairman. In November 1962, Lemnitzer was appointed as commander of U.S. European Command and as NATO's

, which was a positional demotion from being chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His time in command saw the Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 and the withdrawal of NATO forces from France in 1966. Known somewhat for his eccentric personality, instead of carrying in place a regulation

M1911 The Colt M1911 (also known as 1911, Colt 1911, Colt .45, or Colt Government in the case of Colt-produced models) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge. History Early hist ...

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

which was commonly used by general officers, General Lemnitzer preferred to carry a long-barrelled M-16 Rifle as his personal firearm. Lemnitzer is the only person to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff and then serve in another U.S. military command after his term as chairman ended.

Later life and death

Lemnitzer retired from the military in July 1969. His 14-year tenure as a four star general on active duty is the second longest at that rank in the history of the U.S. Army, after General

William T. Sherman William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

who held that rank from 1869 to 1884. He was the only person in history to serve as Army Chief of Staff, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as Supreme Allied Commander for NATO. General Lemnitzer is one of only four officers in the history of the United States Army to have actively served as a general during three major wars (World War II, Korea and Vietnam). The others were

Winfield Scott Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861, and was a veteran of the War of 1812, American Indian Wars, Mexica ...

(War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War),

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

(World War I, World War II and Korea) and Lewis Hershey (World War II, Korea, Vietnam). In 1975, President

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

appointed Lemnitzer to the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States, also known as the Rockefeller Commission, to investigate whether the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

had committed acts that violated US laws, and allegations that E. Howard Hunt and

Frank Sturgis Frank Anthony Sturgis (December 9, 1924 – December 4, 1993), born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the five Watergate scandal, Watergate burglars whose capture led to the end of the presidency of Richard Nixon. He served in several branches ...

(of

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

fame) were involved in the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

. Lemnitzer died at

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), officially known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951, was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in Washington, D.C., it served more ...

on 12 November 1988, and is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

. His wife, Katherine Tryon Lemnitzer (1901–1994), is buried with him.

Awards and decorations

Lemnitzer was awarded numerous military awards and decorations including but not limited to: ;Foreign decorations Lemnitzer was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. His portrait as Supreme Allied Commander Europe shows him wearing a masonic ring.

Dates of rank

Official Register of Commissioned Officers the United States Army, 1948. pg. 1068.

References

External links

Finding aid for Lyman L. Lemnitzer Oral History, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library

Official US Joint Chiefs of Staff Biography
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemnitzer, Lyman 1899 births 1988 deaths United States Military Academy faculty United States Army personnel of the Korean War Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chiefs of Staff of the United States Army United States Military Academy alumni NATO Supreme Allied Commanders United States Army vice chiefs of staff Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Honorary companions of the Order of the Bath Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Grand Officers of the Military Order of Savoy Recipients of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (South Korea) Recipients of the Cross of Merit with Swords (Poland) Recipients of the Military Order of Italy Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Order of National Security Merit members Chief Commanders of the Philippine Legion of Honor American people of German descent People from Honesdale, Pennsylvania Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal United States Army generals of World War II United States Army generals United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni United States Army Coast Artillery Corps personnel Military personnel from Pennsylvania