Lesley J. McNair
| Lesley J. McNair | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Lesley James McNair |
| Born | May 25, 1883 Verndale, Minnesota, United States |
| Died | July 25, 1944 (aged 61) Saint-Lô, France |
| Allegiance |
 United States
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1904–1944 |
| Rank |
 General (posthumous) |
| Unit |
 Field Artillery Branch
|
| Commands held |
2nd Field Artillery Brigade United States Army Command and General Staff School Army Ground Forces |
| Battles/wars |
Mexican Revolution World War I World War II |
| Awards |
Army Distinguished Service Medal (3) Purple Heart Legion of Honour (France) |
General Lesley James McNair (May 25, 1883 – July 25, 1944) was a senior United States Army officer who served during World War I and World War II. He was the "unsung architect of the US Army" who played the leading role in training Army Ground Forces in the United States before they were sent to combat. He concentrated on advanced officer education, using innovative weapons systems; extensive field-testing of doctrine; streamlining for efficiency; realistic combat training, and combined army tactics with an emphasis on mobility of mechanized forces.
He was killed by friendly fire when an Eighth Air Force bomb landed in his foxhole near Saint-Lô during Operation Cobra, which tried to use heavy bombers for close air support of infantry operations as part of the Battle of Normandy. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in France, was so angry at the mistake that he vowed never again to use heavy bombers against tactical targets.
McNair was born in Verndale, Minnesota, to James and Clara (Manz) McNair. He graduated eleventh in a class of 124 from the United States Military Academy and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant of Artillery (1904).
He then served in a series of ordnance and artillery positions in Utah, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. (1904–1909). He was promoted to 1st lieutenant (June 1905) and captain (May 1907) and was then assigned to the 4th Artillery Regiment in the west (1909–1914). While attached to the regiment, McNair was sent to France to observe French artillery training for seven months (1913), and on his return he took part in Major General Frederick Funston's expedition to Veracruz (April 30 – November 23, 1914). He served under General John J. Pershing, in the Pancho Villa Expedition, and was promoted to major (May 1917).
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