Major General William Carey Lee (March 12, 1895 – June 25, 1948) was a senior United States Army officer who fought in World War I and World War II, during which he commanded the 101st Airborne Division, nicknamed the "Screaming Eagles". Lee is often referred to as the "Father of the U.S. Airborne".
Early life and military career
Lee was born in Dunn, North Carolina, one of the seven children of Eldridge Lee and his wife Emma. His father was a merchant. Lee attended Wake Forest College and North Carolina State College. He participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, graduated from NC State, being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry Branch of the United States Army in 1917, after the American entry into World War I. Lee served in World War I with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), which was commanded by General John J. Pershing, on the Western Front. During the war, he served as a platoon and company commander in the 81st Division.
Between the wars
He stayed in the Army during the interwar period and, soon after the war ended, and taking an interest in armored warfare, he attended the tank warfare training schools in Fort Meade, Maryland, and at Versailles, France. In the 1930s, he attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School and was promoted to major soon after. On a tour of Europe, he observed the revolutionary new German airborne forces, a concept that he believed the U.S. Army should adopt. He returned to the United States, where he was ordered to the Office of the Chief of Infantry at Washington, D.C. On August 18, 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
World War II
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By the time the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Lee, promoted to the temporary rank of colonel on December 24, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored the concept, and Lee was authorized to form the first paratroop platoon, which was commanded by William T. Ryder. This was followed by the Provisional Parachute Group, and finally the Airborne Command, of which he took command on March 21, 1942, which was followed shortly afterwards by a temporary promotion to brigadier general on April 19.
Lee was the first commander of the U.S. Army Parachute school at Fort Benning, Georgia, which was also put under control of Airborne Command. He supervised the creation or improvement of facilities at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg as well as Pope Field for jump training.
His Army Distinguished Service Medal was awarded, "for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War II."
On October 11, 2004, the U.S. Senate passed a bill to rename the Dunn Post Office, the "General William Carey Lee Post Office."
Lee Residence Hall, one of the largest dormitories at North Carolina State University, is named after William C. Lee.
The Gen. William C. Lee House at Dunn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
[NOTE: The "Bill Lee Freeway" in Charlotte, North Carolina, a section of Interstate 77 is named for William States Lee III (1929–1996), president and CEO of Duke Power and no known relation to the general.]
Notes
References
- Autry, Jerry. Assisted by Kathryn Autry. General William C. Lee: Father of the Airborne : Just Plain Bill. San Francisco: Airborne Press, 1995.
External links
- General William C. Lee Airborne Museum Website
- Generals of World War II
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