June 28, 1891 and June 30, 1948: Milestones of Four-Star General Carl A. Spaatz Celebrated

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

June 28, 1891 and June 30, 1948: Two milestones in the life of Four Star General Carl A. Spaatz, celebrated two days apart. June 28, 1891, was in inauspicious beginning of his life and June 30, 1948, was a very auspicious day, commemorated with as much “pomp and circumstance” as the General would allow. That was the day he retired from the United States Air Force after an illustrious 34-year career.

He would permit no parade or massive fly-over; there was a small ceremony in the Pentagon. He had tried to retire three years earlier, t the end of World War II, because he was “bone tired,” both physically and emotionally exhausted after four years of war. He agreed to remain as the leader of the Army Air Force only as long as it took for that branch of the service to establish its independence.

He then faced the decision of what to do with the rest of his life. According to his wife Ruth, he considered returning to Boyertown and buying the Boyertown Times, the successor to his family’s newspaper. There was some talk of his running for Governor of Pennsylvania, which he “quickly turned aside.” He felt that writing memoirs was too “self-servicing,” and that ideas was rejected.

He had no interest in corporate life, but Newsweek’s offer of a position as its military editor was appealing. That job combined his newspaper experience in Boyertown helping with dad’s paper and obvious military background with an opportunity to espouse his support for the causes of airpower and preparedness, with time off for his hobbies.

He quickly accepted the offer and took off for Mexico on a month-long fishing trip. He wrote articles for the news magazine for 13 years, including time as a war correspondent during the Korean War.

He and his wife Ruth kept busy and he could now spend time on things he loved to do, including with his grandchildren. He was not at home much as his three daughters were growing up and he had a wonderful time with the next generation.

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