 This is General Thomas Dresser White, a global strategist with over 40 years' experience in the problems of defending the nation. During World War I, when the world's attention became focused on a mighty army of mud-slogging do-boys on the other side of the Atlantic, a young lad named Tommy White from Springfield, Illinois, became interested in the military. At the age of 13, Tommy entered the ivy-covered walls of St. John's Military Academy in Della Field, Wisconsin to lay the groundwork for a real military career. General Roy Faran, who was then and still is headmaster of St. John's, recalls some first impressions of the youngster who graduated from his school at the age of 16. Over 40 years ago, over 45 years ago, in fact, there came to St. John's Military Academy a promising youth of 14 or 15. He wrecked and well set up, soldierly looking, and he entered the freshman class. And from then on, I think that his leadership was so outstanding that everybody recognized it. And it is not strange, therefore, that he received one promotion after another until at graduation he was first captain as he was later at West Point. Tom White had not graduated from St. John's before I conceived the idea that he was the youth that I hoped would someday succeed me as head of the school. I cherished that hope until long after World War I was over, but I confess it began to fade when I found how he was going up, so to speak, like a rocket from one rank to another until he became the chief of staff of his Air Force. And I felt that it might not be possible to fulfill that dream, however, I still cherished it and I might say I still do. White was one of the youngest cadets ever admitted to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His family enjoys telling how he entered the Academy before the legal age of entry and how his father had to pay his food bill until he reached his 17th birthday. Cadet White took an active interest in Academy affairs and was editor-in-chief of the West Point Howitzer. To recall those early days, here's General Frank Roberts, an old friend of Cadet White TD. Well, I certainly am a friend of his. He and I were roommates when we were cadets at the point. As a matter of fact, this is what he looked like in those days. I have a picture out in there which is addressed to the old wife, which in Cadet parlance means roommate. We lived together in old 2021 of the North's backs. He was Cadet Captain of H Company and I was Cadet First Lieutenant. Later on when we were at the Infantry School together, I was married at Columbus, Georgia and he was my best man. Yes, I know Cadet White TD very well indeed. He's one of my dearest friends and I never knew a finer officer and gentleman. In July 1920 at the age of 18, Tommy graduated in the upper half of one of World War I's accelerated classes, the youngest West Point graduate ever to be commissioned in the history of the Academy. He was immediately promoted to temporary First Lieutenant and sent to Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Tommy was graduated in July 1921 and assigned duty with the 14th Infantry at Fort Davis Panama Canal Zone. Lieutenant White developed an early interest in aviation and in 1924 he got an assignment to primary flying school at Brooks Field, Texas. Upon completion of his primary work, he was transferred to the Air Service Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field where he won his wings. Then he was assigned to the 99th Observation Squadron at Bowling Field, Washington, D.C. where he gained the permanent rank of First Lieutenant on August 24, 1925. In March 1927, he officially transferred from the Infantry to the Air Corps. By this time, young White was anxious to further his interest in linguistics and attended Georgetown University studying Chinese. During this 1927 period, the closest airfield to Beiping was in the Philippines, and it became necessary for Tommy to travel to Nichols Field to get in his flight time. Here's a voice from the past to tell about it, Colonel Volant. Sometimes he would get the Army transport, sometimes he would get commercial liners, but all of it was hard work. Colonel Volant, what type of aircraft did they fly at Nichols in those days? We had the bombers, amphibians. We had the A-17, which is a single-engine plane. And they were available to all pilots that was on duty at Nichols Field. Where did they like to fly? They used to fly around. The friends of one of their favorite spots was the next thing, the volcano, Mount Bayon. Here's another old friend who remembers Lieutenant White in those days, Viscount Lord Aster. In 1929, I spent Christmas at Peking and had the pleasure of meeting a very amusing young American language officer who was adding to his knowledge of Russian, a knowledge of Chinese as well. In February that year, we met up again on a liner going down from Shanghai to Hong Kong. He said to me, why didn't you come down and fly around Manila with me? I've got to go in and do some flying time. That seemed too good an opportunity to miss. So on a very busy Sunday in Hong Kong, I managed to get an American visa, get hold of a ticket, and I had to write myself out my own vaccination certificate and got back to the ship. But when I got back to the ship, there was no sign of Tommy White. The ship moved away from the dock, and suddenly I saw a rickshaw belting down to the quay. And this was Tommy who had fallen into the hands of the RAF that had been enjoying British hospitality. He got in a sandpan and started rowing frantically out after this liner, waving to the captain to wait for him. Well, the captain rather reluctantly let down a rope ladder. Tommy, when he got below, could barely reach it. So he shouted up, Captain, load that rope ladder some more. The captain, with that courtesy which characterizes the Navy dealing with the Air Force, merely yelled, Climb you so-and-so, or words for that effect. So Tommy just got the end of the rope ladder, swung by one hand, and gradually came up to the level of the port hole, where some willing hands dragged him in and put him in his cabin. We then had the most wonderful week in Manila flying around. His idea of showing me Manila in an aeroplane was practically flying in the front door of a house and out the kitchen. But we both survived, and I knew, having seen the way he climbed up that ship that one day he'd get to the very top. After four years in Bathing, Lieutenant White returned to Washington for a three-year assignment at Headquarters Air Corps. It was during this period that General Benjamin Folloy, patriarch of the Air Force, recalls writing an efficiency report on Lieutenant White. As I recall, I probably gave him as high a rating as any officer in the office of his age, rank, and experience. His next assignment was in Moscow in 1934 as assistant military attaché in the U.S. Embassy. One of his duties was to fly Ambassador William C. Bullitt around Russia. Ambassador Bullitt recalls one particular flight. The Embassy had a little two-seat single-engine Douglas plane. Lieutenant White and I flew around Russia with no help from anyone except a bit from quite inaccurate Russian maps and very false weather reports. We had a wonderful time until one day we landed upside down in a swamp near the Leningrad Airport. The honor of the United States, however, came out right side up because when the leading members of the Leningrad Soviet came stumbling and splashing across the swamp to pick up the dead men, we greeted them very formally, saying, how do you do? And when they wanted to talk about the plane, we refused to notice that there was a plane there in pieces, and we asked them what was on at the ballet that night and who was dancing in it, and so on, and we walked off the field that way. And by that time, they were completely disconcerted and had decided that Americans really must be something quite special. Well, General White has always been very special. Grandson of a Confederate general, son of an Episcopal bishop, he is a gentleman of the old school. He did a magnificent job in Moscow, magnificent. Everyone was intensely interested in him because he was so intelligent and had such a lively intellectual curiosity. He spoke perfect or almost perfect Russian, and his Chinese was perfect. His looks were blue perfect, and it wasn't in Odessa only that when he walked down the street, he was followed by cues of girls. I suspect that he still is. A highlight of any man's career, of course, is the meeting of his future bride. And this white did on his next duty assignment in Rome, again as assistant military attaché for air to Italy. And his morale received a further boost with the promotion to captain. It was during this period that Tommy observed Mussolini's growing forces at the Italian Grand Army maneuvers. After a tour in Greece as assistant military attaché, he returned to the States in May of 1937, and after attending the Air Corps Tactical School was selected for the command and staff school at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. In March of 1938, Tom married the British girl he'd met and fallen in love with during his Italian assignment. No wedding pictures could be found, but it's in the book. Jim Berryman, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist and a friend of the whites, managed though to supply a drawing of the beautiful Air Force Bride. The whites moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in April of 1940 after Tommy had completed an assignment in the intelligence section at Washington and had gained his majority. In August of that year, Tommy became the chief of the US military air mission to Brazil. Building a new Brazilian air arm was not without its problems and headaches. But with a singleness of purpose, Tommy White developed the Brazilian flyers and galvanized them into a well-organized group, which later became the leaders of today's Brazilian Air Force. As events moved toward World War II, Tommy White built up more professional qualifications and more professional regard. On November 2, 1942, he acquired his first star and was appointed Chief of Staff of Operations of the Third Air Force at Tampa, where he was decorated with Brazil's highest honor in gratitude for his work in developing the Brazilian Air Force. September 1944 found Brigadier General White in the South Pacific as Deputy Commander of the 13th Jungle Air Force during the battles of New Guinea and the Southern Philippines. These were grim days and it was seldom a smile was seen on the face of Tommy White unless there was word of a new victory or new advances. 13th Commander, General Sinclair Street recalls these hectic days. In September of 1944, when the 13th Air Force, which is a part of the Air Force of the South Pacific, the Southwest Pacific called the Four Eastern Air Forces, General White joined the 13th as Chief of Staff. At that time, the 13th Air Force, preparing for the attacks upon Balec Papin, were operating B-24s. And we operated three missions from Noom-4 against Balec Papin and destroyed the Japanese oil resources there. We took some losses, but that was the beginning of the, in my opinion, the demise of the Japanese Air Force in the Southwest Pacific. The 13th moved on to Moritai on the road back to Manila. This is Thanksgiving 1944. The men with Tommy White pause in the midst of war to observe a traditional American custom. And the war continued. Bombers made devastating attacks on the Japanese combat targets and war industries. As Americans gained complete air superiority in the Pacific, Tommy White became commanding general of the 7th Air Force in the waning months of the war. Abored the battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945, Japanese envoys signed a surrender, convinced of the futility of further resistance. And Tommy White was among those present for the official ending of a long, hard campaign. After several months of occupation duty, the 7th was moved to Hawaii, where White gained his second star. Recalling his first meeting with White, here is the first secretary of the Air Force, Senator Stuart Simington. Although of course I'd heard about General White before, the first I remember meeting him was in the last part of June 1946. And along with Senator Tidings, who was then chairman of military affairs in the Senate, and General George Kenny, we went through a wire on our way to the independence ceremony of the Philippines on July 4, 1946. At that time, I stayed with General and Mrs. White and was tremendously impressed with his vision, the overall scope of his mind and the problems that faced the Air Force in the world at that time. I found it also that he was unusual as a linguist, and I left Hawaii after this first meeting with him, realizing that he was going a long way in the Air Force of the future. A call to Washington came next, the very important position of Air Force Director of Legislation and Liaison. Senator Simington tells how White was picked. As soon as it became apparent that the Army Air Corps had a good chance of being the Air Force, it was most important that we have on the Hill the very best from the standpoint of representation with the Senators and the Congressman in question. And therefore, we looked all over the Air Force and picked a man we thought would be unusually good at this unusually important job. Putting it mildly, it didn't hurt the Air Force to have General White. And may I say that he made so much of a favorable impression on so many people that I am sure it had a great deal to do with his ultimately becoming the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. I've often kidded him about it because he was very reticent being a fighting man and taking this desk job. And I've often told him that I don't think that he would have ever been Chief of Staff if he hadn't impressed everybody down here so much. I must say that I think perhaps he agreed with me on that at one time. It became obvious quite soon that General White was on his way and therefore it was natural for him to be brought in by Secretary Talbot as Vice Chief of Staff. And later on, as we all know, he became Chief of Staff. And in this job he's performed many magnificent services for the Air Force and for his country. And thinking them over, I believe the service that he has performed, which was the most important, certainly for the Air Force itself and probably for the country, was his capacity to sell in a completely academic way the importance of manned aircraft in the future for the defenses of the United States. Many important senators and congressmen have said to me quite recently that as a result of his testimony, they were convinced that the manned aircraft was here to stay and would be here a long time from now, despite all the talk about missiles. And more than any other single person in the entire field of air power, General White is responsible for the recent favorable reaction to the permanency of manned aircraft. We all owe him a great obligation for that service. A day in the life of the Air Force Chief begins early in the AM. Fond Family Farewells are set on the steps of his Fort Mayer home. A cheery hello to Master Sergeant Andy Kosowski, General White's driver for eight years, and off to the Puzzle Palace. Andy says General White always makes some lively remark right about here every morning, something like, people are dying to get in there. Ah yes, there it is. America's monument to mass confusion. The Ulcerated Nerve Center, the pentagonal storehouse of platitudes. As White says every morning, right in this exact spot, there's that place again. Here's where the brain cuddling begins. A quick look through some of the overnight paperwork, and Mrs. Caffrey, the personal secretary, announces that General Gerhardt and his briefing staff are here to bring the Chief up to date on Air Force matters before the next meeting of the Joint Chiefs. This is where the plans people present their findings and make recommendations to the Chief. Colonel Craig flips quickly through a set of charts which expound basic policy. General Gerhardt keeps this moving as he calls on Colonel Lukman for a report on a special project. This kind of briefing prepares the Chief for meetings of the JCS, the National Security Council, a briefing for the Defense Secretary, or any of the high level meetings where the course of our national security is charted. The morning's not an hour old yet, and already the weight of the world has joined the four stars on your shoulders. Well, who's next? General Arno Layman has some cheery news. Always looking out for your interest, he's managed to get your face on the cover of Parade Magazine. But seriously, it's a lousy picture. Special Assistant Bob Ginsburg jumps in for a bit of information concerning an upcoming trip you're going to make. The right hand man stops by to fill you in on what General Schriever's doing with his new systems command. I'd hurt my friend if you only knew what you're in for. You'd take a 20-year leave. A reporter from the Washington Star wants to do a story on you, complete with pictures. It seems as though you said something earth-shaking before a congressional committee. Well, it's been a big morning, and it's chow time already. This doesn't happen too often. Once in a while, you just can't get away. You might sit in with the air council in all its pontifical splendor. You might then take a ride in an F-100 and get a mockbuster certificate. A chat with the wheels on strictly parochial matters. In the evening, there's a formal affair to attend and some metaphors to mix with a few Latin air moguls. A meeting of the Joint Chiefs with the Defense Secretary may occupy an entire afternoon. The job has its fringe benefits. You're now a member of the Loyal Beavers. You guys realize this enlistment is for four years, don't you? So you fellas designed the aircraft of tomorrow. Waitle, Senator Simington sees this. Yes, I was editor of the Howitzer myself way back in, well, way back there. You're never too sure what these fellas have in mind when they present you with a momento. It could be a nice, friendly gesture. And then again, there could be something entirely different in mind. Your job takes you out of town, too. Remember in 1958, when you spoke at the dedication of Vandenberg Air Force Base? I am certain that General Vandenberg, if he were here, and I feel that he is in spirit, would share with me the deep feeling of pride that I have in the accomplishments of Americans as reflected in our nation's first strategic missile base. I know that he would be pleased, and it has been named in his honor. May his spirit live forever in the minds of the men who will serve and train here and throughout the United States Air Force. Your tour as Chief saw the Air Force's missile effort reach fruition. Remember the time you stopped by Cheyenne with Secretary Douglas to see an old friend? Fred Christman was an old timer when you two were in Panama. You always had time to correspond with old Fred. On this occasion, you and Secretary Douglas dropped in to congratulate Sergeant Christman on 55 years of unbroken service. You remember Secretary Douglas asking Fred if he'd ever seriously thought of making the Air Force a career. There are many proud moments in the job as Chief of Staff of the Air Force. These Air Force men established four new world speed and altitude records in one week. For their demonstration of the Air Force's capabilities, they're awarded the air medal. Never a day goes by, but what your airmen make you extremely proud. The School of the Sky. The Air Force Academy graduated its first class in 1959. Another high point in the white career. Along with the young men of the first class, you can recall how history was made on this day and you were part of it. Taking the salute at this ceremony must have been a thrilling experience. During your tenure, the Air Force grew stronger as a jet-powered, globe-ranging, versatile, supersonic force. And now a school to train the future leaders of our nation's aerospace force. At the Air Force Association Convention, you act in your capacity as the Air Force's number one spokesman and answer questions concerning the Minuteman ICBM. We should have a mix of offensive systems such as manned aircraft, manned aircraft with bombs, air-to-surface missiles, big missiles, the Minuteman missile in quantities, the Polaris and so on in order to complicate the enemy's defensive problem and also to make it much more expensive for him so that he puts effort into defense that he can't put into offensive weapons. And what would you say is the biggest advantage to the new Minuteman? I think the biggest advantage, well, there are really two big advantages. The primary one, I think, is its applicability to mass production methods. And mass production methods are something that we Americans know very well how to carry out. And the second one is that this missile is relatively so much less costly than anything else we have. The Air Force really became the aerospace force during General White's tour as chief. Here he presents the first space airmail letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Douglas. The letter orbited the Earth several times in a discoverer satellite and was then returned to Earth as a capsule was ejected from the orbiting satellite and recovered from space. This and other significant accomplishments marked the Air Force's entry into the space race. Andy stops the car to check with the White House Guard as the Air Force chief makes a visit to the Executive Mansion past the beautiful fountains and off to the left out of sight of the camera, Caroline's play area. These visits to the White House can vary in purpose, perhaps to share in the public acknowledgement of an outstanding accomplishment, such as the recovery of Discoverer 13, or to discuss with the President problems involving the nation's security. Through all the harassment a demanding schedule can produce, Tommy White has managed to keep his sense of humor. Speaking at a Washington Arrow Club banquet, he presented the Discoverer satellite to the Smithsonian Institution with these remarks. Dr. Carmichael, it is my proud pleasure on behalf of the United States Air Force to present this historic capsule to the Smithsonian Institution to take its place along with that first aircraft which the Wright brothers flew 57 years ago. The Discoverer 13 is one more significant milestone in aerospace history. And if your budget is as difficult as the Air Force is, you will be pleased to know that this is really gold-plated. I hasten to add for technical reasons. All his life, Thomas Dresser White has been interested in the conservation of natural resources. Through his initiative in this regard, the Air Force established by regulation the General Thomas D. White Fish and Wildlife Trophy, awarded here to the commander of Eglin Air Force Base for his installation's outstanding conservation program. White's interest in fishing can best be told by an old friend of his, Fisherman noted lecturer Lee Wolfe. General White and I have fished together for a long, long time, in a great many places. And these pictures bring back a lot of those trips. Here's one from Alaska with a big silver salmon. They're mighty fine fish. In fact, we wonder often whether a silver salmon is the equal of an Atlantic salmon. And that's something we're going to have a long time, I guess, deciding. One of the interesting things about fishing is trying to find the top of the sport. And both of us are always interested in the finest tackle of most interesting fishing. Fisherman who has a wife who fishes too, I think is very fortunate. The only slight problem when you have a fishing wife is that very often she catches bigger fish than you do. And sometimes it's hard for a man to have to say, well, my wife caught the biggest fish of the trip. And that happens occasionally, I know, with Connie. Fishing is wonderful wherever you can find it. This picture was from Suriname, tarpon fishing, and it was one of those trips when we didn't catch very many fish. But something always happens. And on this trip, one of the party was chewed slightly by an alligator. We won't mention any names. No serious damage, of course. And just one of those incidents, another place, another trip to remember. This looks like a pretty muddy job, and it is. But it's a scientific thing. It's a study. This is the collecting of small tropical fish. And there are thousands of fish in the world. Most of them are catalogued. A few of them have so far escaped discovery. And General White has a keen interest in this. I'm just a neophyte at it in collecting these small tropical fish and cataloging them. And he has a number of fish that he has discovered which no one else had ever known or catalogued before. And of course, I join him in feeling that anyone who can add anything to man's knowledge and information is taking a whole universe a step forward. And this is right on the equator, the headwaters of the Amazon. Nice, warm, pleasant swimming, but careful swimming because of the piranhas that are in this water and might make swimming a little bit unpleasant. Most of the new discoveries of fish are small fish. It's rare that a new game fish is discovered, but this is one. It's a fish that bears General White's name, a new fish, the brycon white eye. And it's a good game fish. The jumps will take a lure, very good sport, and it came from the headwaters of the Orinoco. No one else had ever found or catalogued one before. And here's a bunch of hard-looking salmon fishing characters. And I'm sure that these are the kind of people and this is the kind of sport that's going to play a large part in the future of General White having retired. I hope that our fishing is going to be as good. Our companionship is fine in the years to come as it has been and that there'll be a lot more of it. Well, retirement time is at hand. At the White House on the day before the retirement review, the President reads the citation to accompany the awarding of the Distinguished Service Medal. The citation in part reads, For exceptionally meritorious service as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 1 July 1957 to 30 June 1961. The period covered by this award saw a revolution in weapon system inventory and tactical concepts. Immediately following the award ceremony, an added honor is bestowed on General White. A new trophy contributed to the Air Force by Dr. Thomas McNeugh of the National Geographic Society in the name of General White. Each year, the military or civilian Air Force member judged as having contributed the most toward the conquest of aerospace will be named trophy winner. The space trophy is one-third life-size and will be placed on permanent display at the Pentagon. A symbol of Air Force achievement and a fine memorial to the career of General White. 30 June 1961 at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. In colorful ceremonies attended by thousands of General White's friends and military associates, the Chief of Staff mounts the reviewing stand to accept a last salute from the men and women of his Air Force. Here, General White marks the consummation of 41 years of dedicated service to the Air Power doctrine. Sharing the reviewing stand with the retiring Chief, our Air Force Secretary Eugene Zuckert, Vice Chief of Staff, General Curtis LeMay, and three Sergeants of Long Association with General White, Harry Stern, Thomas Skoolcraft, and Frank Davis. The Air Force Band and ceremonial units, as well as 1,000 Airmen from Andrews and Bowling Air Force Bases, pass in review. Here again with a final word is Senators Stuart Simington. We say au revoir but not goodbye to Tommy White and his delightful wife Connie. We know that it isn't any goodbye because the way the world is plus his vast experience, we know that he will be used by this President and future Presidents because he has such priceless knowledge as to how to keep this country strong so it can remain free. And I'm sure that the opportunity for him to continue to serve will be there at his beckon call in the years to come. And so Tommy, we wish you and your lady the very best in future years.