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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC00950 |
| From Archive Folder | Documents Relating to the 1920s |
| Title | William E. Mitchell to Lester D. Gardner discussing his health and his belief that the Air Force needs to separate from the Army and Navy |
| Date | 26 July 1924 |
| Author | Mitchell, William E. (1879-1936) |
| Recipient | Gardner, Lester D. (Lester Durand) (1876-1956) |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Signed as Brigadier General, Air Service, Assistant Chief of Air Service. Advises that he will come to New York as soon as possible but that he has to have his tonsils out. Remarks that the Air Force "has almost ceased to exist ... " Believes that the Air Force needs to separate from the Army and Navy. He thinks that American navy power could easily be destroyed by Japan's air power. In his opinion, protecting the sea is the "only sure method of national defense that we have at the present time ... " Typed on note stationery of the War Department, Air Service, Washington. |
| Subjects | Air Force Health and Medical Navy Military History Asia Maritime World War I World War II |
| People | Mitchell, William E. (1879-1936) Gardner, Lester D. (Lester Durand) (1876-1956) |
| Place written | Washington, D.C. |
| Theme | Foreign Affairs; Naval & Maritime; Health & Medicine |
| Sub-collection | The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945 |
| Additional Information | After World War I, Mitchell argued against the huge reductions being made in military aviation. In 1925 he issued a statement accusing the War and Navy Departments of incompetence and criminal negligence in aviation affairs. He was tried by court-martial and was convicted on charges of "insubordination and conduct unbecoming an officer." He resigned from the Army, and his views were largely disregarded. Gardner was a pioneer in laboratory research and theory of aeronautics. |
| Copyright | The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |
| Module | Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945 |