Roger Maxwell Ramey (September 9, 1905 – March 4, 1963) was an American officer who reached the rank of

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 the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. He retired in January 1957 over heart problems and died six years later.

Early life and career

Ramey was born in

Sulphur Springs, Texas Sulphur Springs is a city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 15,941. Sulphur Springs is located in Northeast Texas. History Sulphur Springs

West Point 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 ...

by his captain in the National Guard. He was enrolled at West Point in 1924 and graduated as a second lieutenant in 1928. After his graduation, Ramey enrolled in the Air Corps Primary Flying School and graduated from the Air Corps Advanced Flying School in September 1929. He served with the 27th Pursuit Squadron in Michigan for a time and in 1932 was made commanding officer of the 38th Pursuit Squadron. Later he served as a flight instructor in Randolph Field, Texas.

World War II

In January 1942 during United States' involvement in World War II">Randolph Air Force Base">Randolph Field, Texas.

World War II

In January 1942 during United States' involvement in World War II, Ramey became plans and training officer of the VII Bomber Command. The next month he was promoted to Colonel. In October 1942 he transferred to the

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...

, in which he served as commanding officer of 43rd Bomb Group and 314th Bomb Wing.

Postwar service

Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity on July 16, 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices sinc ...

Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll consisted of the detonation of 23 (or 24) nuclear weapons by the United States between 1946 and 1958 on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Tests occurred at 7 test sites on the reef itself, on the sea, in th ...

in 1946, Ramey was the director of the "Able" shot and commander of Task Force 1.5. Ramey assumed command of the Eighth Air Force as a temporary Brigadier General in January 1947. He was also the commander of

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

, then known as Fort Worth Army Airfield. He was responsible for reversing the stance on the nature of the crashed craft of the

Roswell UFO incident The Roswell Incident started in 1947 with the recovery of debris near Roswell, New Mexico. It later became the basis for conspiracy theories alleging that the United States military recovered a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. The debri ...

later in 1947. He was famously photographed with a telex in his hand on July 8, 1947, that Ufologists believe may confirm a cover-up. The photograph has been subject to much analyzing with little conclusive results. In May 1954 Ramey assumed command of the

in Korea, and was promoted to temporary Lieutenant General in June 1954.

Retirement

Ramey retired on January 31, 1957, over heart problems. He died on March 4, 1963, in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

Summary of service

Dates of rank

Sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramey, Roger Maxwell Military personnel from Texas People from Sulphur Springs, Texas Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Roswell incident United States Air Force generals United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 1905 births 1963 deaths