US Army Air Forces general (1900?1948)
Uzal Girard Ent
CBE
(March 3, 1900 ? March 5, 1948) was an American
Army Air Forces
officer who served as the commander of the Second Air Force during
World War II
.
[1]
Biography
[
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]
At West Point in 1924
Ent was born on March 3, 1900, in
Northumberland, Pennsylvania
. After attending grade school and high school in his home town, he enrolled at
Susquehanna University
.
[2]
During
World War I
, Ent left to enlist as a private in the infantry in 1917. He transferred to the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps and was promoted to sergeant in the 59th Balloon Company in March 1919. Ent received an appointment to
West Point
and was commissioned into the
Army Air Service
in June 1924.
[3]
[4]
In 1927, he married Eleanor Marwitz; they would have a son, Girard.
[5]
On May 30, 1928, he was the co-pilot of a balloon in the
National Balloon Race
starting at
Bettis Field
in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. During the race, Ent's balloon was struck by lightning over
Youngstown, Pennsylvania
. The lightning strike killed the pilot and set the balloon's
hydrogen
-filled envelope on fire. Ent could have parachuted to safety but 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.
[6]
After graduating from the
Air Corps Tactical School
in June 1937 and the
Command and General Staff School
in June 1938,
[7]
he served as a
military attache
at the American Embassy in
Lima
,
Peru
from July 1939 until October 1942, acting as the senior neutral military observer on the Peruvian side after their
boundary war
with
Ecuador
.
[4]
He was
chief of staff
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
,
9th Air Force
from February to December 1943. During his stint, he led 178
B-24s
in "
Operation Tidal Wave
" ? the bombing raid on the oil fields at
Ploie?ti
, Romania, on August 1, 1943. He was then appointed Chief of Staff and then Commanding General,
2nd Air Force
, based at
Colorado Springs
, Colorado.
[4]
In September 1944, Ent selected Lieutenant Colonel
Paul Tibbets
to form and train an organization to drop atomic weapons from B-29 bombers. Given Tibbets and two other names by
General Henry "Hap" Arnold
, Ent replied without hesitation, "Paul Tibbets is the man to do it."
[8]
In October 1944, Ent was seriously injured in the crash of a
B-25
on takeoff at the
Fort Worth Army Airfield
, Texas.
[4]
Paralyzed from the waist down, he learned to walk again using
braces
.
[9]
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 career in law; he also experimented with materials to develop lightweight braces for paraplegics. He wrote a book,
What’s My Score?
, to help victims of paralysis. He also volunteered for several experimental surgeries so surgeons could learn to better treat spinal injuries.
[5]
He died at
Fitzsimons General Hospital
in
Aurora, Colorado
, 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. A
cenotaph
honoring him now stands there.
[4]
[5]
Awards and honors
[
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]
Other honors
[
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]
In 1951, a new Air Force base near Colorado Springs, Colorado, was named in the general's honor.
Ent Air Force Base
was the initial home to the
North American Air Defense Command
(NORAD) from 1957 until 1963 when the command center moved to a highly secure facility within Cheyenne Mountain. Ent AFB became the Ent Annex to the
Cheyenne Mountain Complex
in 1975, and the facility was closed the following year.
[4]
The
Ent Credit Union
was named in his honor.
[4]
Veterans of Foreign Wars
(VFW) Post 8298 in Ent's hometown of Northumberland, Pennsylvania, is named "Major General Uzal G. Ent" to honor his memory.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Fogerty, Robert P. (1953).
"Biographical Data on Air Force General Officers, 1917?1952, Volume 1 ? A thru L"
(PDF)
.
Air Force Historical Research Agency
. pp. 542?544. USAF historical studies: no. 91.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on August 31, 2021
. Retrieved
November 9,
2021
.
- ^
MacCloskey, Monro
(Summer 1965).
"Uzal Girard Ent"
.
Assembly
. Vol. XXIV, no. 2. pp. 112?113
. Retrieved
May 29,
2024
.
- ^
Official Army Register
. Vol. I. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. January 1, 1947. p. 1383
. Retrieved
May 29,
2024
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Biographies: Major General Uzal Girard Ent"
.
af.mil
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gogniat-Eidemiller, Maryann (November 11, 2022).
"Gen. Ent was military hero, leader"
.
Latrobe Bulletin
. Retrieved
December 14,
2022
.
- ^
American Decorations
. Supplement 1. Office of the Adjutant General. Washington, D.C., 1937. p. 67.
- ^
Biographical register of the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York since its establishment in 1802: Supplement, 1930?1940
. Vol. VIII. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, The Lakeside Press. April 1941. pp. 578?579
. Retrieved
May 29,
2024
.
- ^
"One hell of a big bang"
.
The Guardian
. August 5, 2002
. Retrieved
August 7,
2013
.
- ^
"Milestones, Mar. 15, 1948"
.
Time
. March 15, 1948. Archived from
the original
on February 1, 2011
. Retrieved
June 14,
2010
.
External links
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]