TRIBUTE TO U.S. AIR FORCE GENERAL HENRY

thank you General Arnold's life story is the story of flying he was taught to fly by the Wright brothers he was an Army lieutenant then one of the first professional soldiers to see the potentialities of this strange machine thank you at first our air force was just a small branch of the army signal Corps some thought that the airplane might possibly be of some use in observation over the Enemy Lines view thought of the military plane as a weapon even when its use in World War One created an entirely new kind of combat foreign these were the experimental years and there were plenty of people who thought this flying business just wasn't here to stay sometimes they had reason to think so but the Army was testing ideas and training men the Army flew the mail for a Time thank you remember the question mark by refueling in the air it set a record of continuous life for over six days the names of some of the men who flew the question mark are very familiar now Tui spots Ira acre such men were convinced that we were entering an age of flight and that future Wars would be won in the air and as the Army Air corps pound ever widening Horizons one of its Chief boosters was General Arnold General Arnold preached air power he soon found in President Roosevelt one who also believed that the world was shrinking and that we must draw new designs for defense General Arnold started building our Air corps into a weapon he felt that such a weapon might someday be used against us and we must be prepared he and others who thought like him warned us none too soon the first blow that struck us came by air our factories the Great American production machine was also a part of General Arnold's plan this ever increasing flood soon gave our enemies their first moments of doubt thank you by now air power had become a vital part of our strategy first there was the war in Europe vapor trails in the air over England bombs away over Germany an ever-increasing flood of bombers Fighters lore in the air had reached a terrible maturity in Europe General Arnold stood among the Allies top-level planners but on the other side of the world there was the war against Japan from the fog drenched fields of Alaska to the rough noon runways of Australia American planes were taking off and carrying the war closer and closer to this far away enemy's door thank you in the Pacific 2 General Arnold was a leader in our gigantic planet under General Arnold's Direction the big bombers roared out across the sea more bombers than Japan had ever believed possible a swelling wave of planes carrying Vengeance to the very homes of the people who had started this war foreign but General Arnold had devoted his life to teaching us how to fight in the air World War II was an air War the first blow and the last was delivered by air afterwards at the conference table General Arnold gave his country his remaining years his work-strained heart had already murmured its warning but this was a man who wouldn't quit until the job was done later retiring to his home in California a scene in such contrast to the rattle of machine guns the burst of bombs General Arnold went fishing but his fishing days were few this was General Arnold's last flight thank you on his way to Washington's Arlington Cemetery he was accorded the funeral honors of a great Soldier he was a five-star general but when he died he was not an army General he was the first to receive a new title general of the Air Force and Air Force he had done so much to build foreign foreign he helped build a gift for mankind wings foreign he helped build a shield for freedom America's air power