Thomas Cebern Musgrave Jr. (July 5, 1913 – November 14, 2005) was a major general 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 ...

Biography

Musgrave was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1913. He was the son of Col Thomas Cebern Musgrave Sr (Feb 27 1880 – Mar 11 1962) and Olivia Van Patten Dodge (July 17, 1882 – Aug 30 1969). He was the grandson of Philip Tell Dodge, the first president of the

Mergenthaler Linotype Company The Mergenthaler Linotype Company was a company founded in the United States in 1886 to market the Linotype machine (), a system to cast metal type in lines (linecaster) invented by Ottmar Mergenthaler. It became the world's leading manufacturer ...

. He married Josephine Bennett (Apr 16 1913 – Dec 20 1999), the granddaughter of the famous Texas Ranger John Barclay Armstrong. They had one daughter, Jamie Musgrave Hall (Sep 18 1938 – Dec 26 2008), and one son, Thomas Cebern Musgrave III (Sep 3 1942 – ). He died on November 14, 2005, in Washington D.C.

Career

Musgrave was educated at St. John's Military Academy before entering 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 ...

, graduating in 1935. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served with the

Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...

. Following the war he became Executive Office to the Commanding General of the

United States 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 ...

. In 1949 he entered 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 ...

. Following graduation he was given command of the

47th Air Division The 47th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 27 February 1987. The unit's origins begin with its predecessor ...

and the

7th Air Division The 7th Air Division (7 AD) served the United States Air Force with distinction from early 1944 through early 1992, earning an outstanding unit decoration and a service streamer along the way. History Hawaii As the 7th Fighter Wing, the divis ...

. In 1955 he was assigned to

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 ...

. The following year he was named Director of Manpower and Organization of the Air Force. His retirement was effective as of June 1, 1962. Musgrave was wounded in action over the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the cen ...

on April 22, 1944. He was hospitalized until Aug. 15 and then resumed command of the Fifth Bomb Group,

13th Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...

. On September 30, 1944, Colonel Musgrave led the first in a series of five air raids against the oil refineries at

Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated 20 ...

from the recently captured Noemfoor Island. Without fighter cover, the raid suffered severe and unsustainable losses of its

B-24 Liberators The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

. Awards he received include the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

with two

oak leaf clusters An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

. After retiring from the US Air Force, Musgrave became a Vice President of Textron Corp and served on the Board of Directors of All American Engineering Co.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Musgrave, Thomas Cebern Jr. Military personnel from Washington, D.C. United States Air Force generals Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II United States Military Academy alumni National War College alumni 2005 deaths 1913 births