Lee, William L. (William Lecel), 1903-1976

William Lecel Lee (1903-1976) was born in Weatherford, Texas. In 1927 he received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A & M University, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army ROTC. After graduation, he went to work for the Purina Corporation but soon resigned his position and enlisted in the Army Air Corps. In 1935, after seven years of routine post life in several Army Air Corps installations in Texas, Lee was ordered to the Phillippines to assist with the establishment of a native air force. Shortly after his arrival in Manila he was given the official position of Technical Advisor to the Philippine Air Force. Soon thereafter, he was promoted to the position of Chief of the Constabulary Air Corps. During the next three years he served as chief administrator of the Philippine military’s air arm, which entailed developing airfields throughout the islands, purchasing aircraft from factories in the United States, and overseeing a training program for Filipino pilots. It was during this time that Lee instructed Dwight D. Eisenhower to fly a Stearman Trainer. On May 19, 1938, Lee’s tour of duty in the Philippines ended and he returned to the United States, where he was stationed again in San Antonio. For a large part of the first year after his return, he traveled extensively to aircraft factories throughout the United States where he appraised planes for purchase for the Philippine Air Force. In 1940, Lee was assigned to the Second, then the Twenty-Second, Bombardment Groups, Langley Field, Virginia. His next year was spent training pilots, performing various administrative duties, and conducting test flying of the new B-26 bomber. In the latter part of 1942 Lee was promoted to Colonel and appointed training supervisor for the 21st, 320th and 322nd Bombardment Groups at MacDill Field, Tampa, Florida. In early 1942 Lee and his unit were transferred to Florence, then Greenville, South Carolina. While there, Lee worked with both bomber and reconnaissance units. In 1944 Lee was named commander of the 49th Heavy Bomber Wing and shipped to Bari, Italy, where the 49th served as part of Nathan Twining’s 15th Air Force. While in Italy, Lee participated in many bombing missions and was heavily decorated. During the first half of 1945 Lee continued to take part in the Allied bombing campaign leading up to the defeat of Nazi Germany. Lee was promoted to brigadier general and received the Distinguished Service Medal. When the war ended, he was appointed deputy to Air Vice Marshal Brodie, chief of the Air Force subcommission for Italy. It was while Lee was at Ciampino Airport, Rome, that he became involved in an argument with a man whom he believed to be an Italian citizen. The argument ended with Lee slapping his antagonist. Only a few short hours later, Lee discovered that the man whom he had confronted was John Magaron, a United States citizen whom President Truman had dispatched to oversee the forthcoming Greek elections. As a result of the incident, Lee was reprimanded and reduced in rank. Shortly thereafter, he was assigned as commander of the Smokey Hill Air Force Base in Salina, Kansas, where he served from August 12, 1946 to September 15, 1947. On September 15, 1947 Lee assumed command of Turner Field, Albany, Georgia, where he was posted until August 1949. Perhaps his most notable experience while at this post was detail to the National War College from the fall of 1948 to the spring of 1949. During his tenure as commander of Turner Field he spent a large amount of time on tours around the continental United States during which he was oriented to new technologies relating to air power, such as atomic weaponry and jet aircraft. After a short tour of duty at March Filed, California, in the fall of 1949, Lee assumed command of the 3605th Navigation Training Wing, Ellington Air Force Base, Houston, Texas. He remained at Ellington until September 1952 when he assumed command of the Thirteenth Air Force, Manila, Philippines. He remained in the Philippines until the fall of 1956 where he returned to the United States as commander of an air force base near Amarillo, Texas. He served as base commander until 1962 when he retired from the U.S. Air Force and joined the American Trust Life Insurance Company as senior vice president. Lee died February 26, 1976.

From the description of Lee, William L. (William Lecel), 1903-1976 (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). naId: 10679533

Air Force Officer.

From the description of Reminiscences of William L. Lee : oral history, 1972. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122574456