Truman H. Landon

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Truman H. Landon
1905-1986
General Truman H. Landon
Place of birth	Maryville, Missouri
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Air Force
Years of service	1928-1963
Rank	General
Commands held	U.S. Air Forces in Europe Caribbean Air Command
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Silver Star Legion of Merit Distinguished Flying Cross (2) Air Medal (3)

General Truman Hempel Landon was a U.S. Air Force general and commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe. He was born in Maryville, Missouri, in 1905, and grew up in Carlinville, Illinois. After graduation from the Carlinville High School in 1922, he attended Blackburn College in that city and, in 1924, entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

He graduated from the academy in 1928 and received his pilot and observer ratings at Kelly Field, Texas, February 15, 1930. General Landon was a command pilot with more than 7,800 hours.

Following two years with the 3rd Attack Group at Fort Crockett, Texas, he served as a flying instructor from 1932-1936 at Randolph Field and with the Sixth Bomb Group at France Field in the Panama Canal Zone from 1937 to 1939.

The commander of the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron from 1939 to 1942, General Landon participated in the first mass flight of B-17s from Hamilton Field, California, to Hickam Field, Hawaii, May 13, 1941.

On December 7, 1941 while enroute to the Philippine Islands in command of the 38th Squadron, General Landon arrived at Hickam Field, Hawaii, during the Japanese attack. For his actions that day he received the Silver Star.

During World War II he commanded the Seventh Bomber Command in the Central Pacific. While commanding general of the Seventh Bomber Command he also commanded a Joint Task Group under Admiral Nimitz.

With the exception of a tour of duty with the Caribbean Air Command, General Landon post-war assignments were divided between Washington, D.C., and Germany. From March 1951 until August 1953 he served as deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff for USAFE at Wiesbaden, Germany. In June 1956, he assumed command of the Caribbean Air Command, Albrook Air Force Base, Canal Zone, where he remained until August 1959.

His Washington duties have been varied. He was the senior air instructor and later commandant of the Army and Navy Staff College. Other assignments included assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, inspector general and deputy chief of staff for personnel, all with Headquarters U.S. Air Force.

He assumed command of the 4th Allied Tactical Air Forces and U.S. Air Forces in Europe on July 1, 1961, succeeding General Frederic H. Smith, Jr., who was named vice chief of staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force. He retired from the Air Force on July 1, 1963, and died on January 27, 1986.

In addition to his Air Force duties, Landon received a Doctor of Laws from Long Island University on January 29, 1960. He was also fluent in German and Spanish, frequently making public speeches in those languages.