Lyman L. Lemnitzer,
General, United States Army

b. 29 Aug 1899, d. 12 November 1988

Born in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1899.
Died November 12, 1988.

General Lemnitzer was an Eisenhower appointee and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Kennedy administration. A leading proponent of pre-emptive action against Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Lemnitzer believed that the United States had to destroy Cuba and the Soviet Union before it lost its strategic advantage in the missile gap that secretly was tilted heavily in favor of America, though the media was being fed the opposite message.

From released KGB documents and meetings between Robert McNamara and Castro during the 1990s, it is now known that Lemnitzer was wrong and warheads were actually in place during the crisis. A preemptive strike would have resulted in mass US casualties. Kennedy's gut instinct was correct. However, Lemnitzer secretly harbored a deep resentment of Kennedy after the crisis ended, believing the president had missed a golden opportunity to permanently rid the world of the communist-atheists.

When the CIA's Operation Mongoose was canceled due to repeated failures, The Cuba Project was created within the Pentagon to continue these types of activities. Lemnitzer relished the opportunity to show up the "company" who he believed was treading on the military's solomn black ops ground, and ineffectively at that. This led him to approve Operation Northwoods, the plans to attack US targets and blame it on Castro to create a pretext for a complete US invasion of Cuba, and potentially a definitive (at least in Lemnitzer's eyes) WWIII scenario with the Russians. Revealingly, his chairmanship was not renewed and he was sent off to command U.S. forces in Europe.

Prior to the Kennedy assassination, Lemnitzer had been implicated in an investigation into extreme right-wing and anti-communist/pro-Israel hardliner connections in the Defense Department which had already forced the resignation of several Pentagon officials, including one who'd been caught handing out John Birch Society literature while on assignment overseas. The conclusions called for further extensive investigation of Lemnitzer to determine just how far his connections ran, but these were never carried out. This has led some to suspect a DoD, rather than CIA, involvement in the death of JFK. Ironically (or not), in 1975 the retired General Lemnitzer was appointed by Gerald R. Ford to the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States.

source: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lyman_L._Lemnitzer 4apr2006

Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, US Army

1987 Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom LYMAN L. LEMNITZER Awarded by President Ronald Reagan June 23, 1987

A brave and dedicated military officer who served our nation in peace and war, General Lemnitzer's skill as a tactician, planner, and negotiator was instrumental in the Second World War. He fought in Korea, he served as U.S. commander in chief in Europe, and eventually became the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His life has been one marked by high military skill and unselfish devotion to his country.

Biography

Born at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1899, he graduated from West Point in 1920 and was commissioned in the Coast Artillery. After graduating from the Coast Artillery School in 1921, he served in Rhode Island and the Philippines. He was an instructor at West Point, 1926-30, and after a second tour in the Philippines, 1934-35. After graduation from the Command and General Staff School in 1936, he was an instructor at the Coast Artillery School until 1939. In 1940, on graduating from the Army War College, he was assigned to staff duty with Coast Artillery units in the South. In May 1941, by then a Colonel, he joined the General Staff in Washington, serving in the War Plans Division and on the Army Ground Forces Staff.

In June 1942, he was promoted to Brigadier General in command of the 34th Anti-Aircraft Brigade, but soon received appointment as Assistant Chief of Staff of the Allied Forces Headquarters, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, in London. After aiding in the planning of the North African invasion, he resumed command of the 34th in February 1943 and led it in the opening phases of General George Patton's Sicilian Campaign. In late June 1943, he became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Allied 15th Army Group (U.S. 7th, British 8th) under General Sir Harold R.L.G. Alexander. He was promoted to Major General in November 1944 and remained with Alexander when the latter became Field Marshal, Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater, in December 1944.

From November 1945-August 1947, he was the Army Member of the Strategic Survey Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and then Deputy Commandant of the National War College until October 1949.

After a year as Director of the Office of Military Assistance in the Department of Defense, he underwent parachute training - at the age of 51 - and was given command of the 11th Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

In November 1951, he was ordered to Korea to command the 7th Infantry Division. He was promoted to Lieutenant General in August 1952 and was named Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Plans and Research.

In March 1955 he was appointed Commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East and of the 8th Army, with the rank of General, and in June became Commander of the Far East Command and of the United Nations Command and Governor of Ryuku Island. In July 1957, he succeeded General Maxwell D. Taylor as Chief of Staff of the Army. He held that post through September 1960 when he was appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In November 1962, he became Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe, and in January 1963 succeeded to the post of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. He retired from the Army in July 1969. In 1975 he was appointed by President Gerald Ford to a blue-ribbon panel to investigate domestic activities of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He was greatly respected as a strategist, one of the most durable soldiers of his time, his powers in no degree were diminished even in advanced age. He died on November 12, 1988 and was buried in Section 30 of Arlington National Cemetery.

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

source: http://www.medaloffreedom.com/LymanLemnitzer.htm 4apr2006

Lyman Lemnitzer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lyman Louis Lemnitzer (August 29, 1899 – November 12, 1988) was an American general.

Lemnitzer was born on August 29, 1899 in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Point in 1920 and was assigned at his request to a Coast Artillery unit. Lemnitzer served in the Philippines but soon began receiving the staff assignments that marked his military career.

Lemnitzer was promoted to Brigadier General in June 1942 and assigned to General Eisenhower's staff shortly thereafter. He helped formed the plans for the invasions of North Africa and Sicily and was promoted to Major General in November 1944. Lemnitzer was one of the senior officers sent to negotiate the Italian surrender in 1943 and the German surrender in 1945. He would later be accused of making it possible for some Nazis to elude investigations for war crimes.

Following the end of World War II, Lemnitzer was assigned to the Strategic Survey Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was later named as Deputy Commandant of the National War College. In 1950, at the age of 51, he took parachute training and was subsequently placed in command of the 11th Airborne Division. He was assigned to Korea in command of the 7th Infantry Division in November 1951 and was promoted to Lieutenant General in August 1952.

Lemnitzer was promoted to the rank of General and named Commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East and of the 8th Army in March 1955. He was named Chief of Staff of the Army in July 1957 and he was appointed as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September 1960. As Chairman, Lemnitzer weathered the Bay of Pigs crisis and the early years of American involvement in Vietnam. He was also required to testify before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about his knowledge of the activities of Major General Edwin Walker, an extreme right wing racist who had been dismissed from the Army over alleged attempts to promote his beliefs in the military. Lemnitzer approved the plans known as Northwoods in 1962; a proposed (and rejected) plan to discredit the Castro regime and create support for military action against Cuba by staging false flag acts of terrorism.

Lemnitzer was named as Commander of U.S. Forces in Europe in November 1962 and was appointed as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in January 1963. Once again, he was called upon to lead in difficult times as this period encompassed the Cyprus crisis of 1963-1964 and the withdrawal of NATO forces from France in 1966.

Lemnitzer retired from the military in July 1969. In 1975, President Ford appointed Lemnitzer to the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (aka the Rockefeller Commission) to investigate whether the Central Intelligence Agency had committed acts that violated American laws.

Lemnitzer died on November 12, 1988 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Katherine Tryon Lemnitzer (1901-1994), is buried with him.

Lemnitzer was played by John Seitz in the 1991 film JFK.

• Preceded by: Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor Chief of Staff of the United States Army 1959—1960
• Preceded by: Gen. Nathan F. Twining Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 1960—1962
• Preceded by: Gen. Lauris Norstad Supreme Allied Commander Europe (NATO) 1963—1969
• Succeeded by: Gen. George Decker
• Succeeded by: Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor
• Succeeded by: Gen. Andrew Goodpaster

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_L._Lemnitzer 4apr2006