Carl “Tooey” Spaatz – 1891-1974

A combat pilot in World War I, Spaatz became commander of the 8th Air Force in World War II, in charge of the great U.S. strategic bombing offensive against German-occupied Europe. During 1944, he was commander of U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe. After the war ended in that theater, he moved to the Pacific and directed strategic bombing there. Following World War II, he was named chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, when it was created as a service independent from the army in 1947.