Gen. Henry 'Hap' Arnold, American hero

Monday, October 11, 2010

Henry "Hap" Arnold, a real American hero, was born in 1886, in Gladwyne Pennsylvania. He is the only man ever to hold the rank of 5-Star General in both the Army and the Air Force, but his route to the Air Force was a strange one. His father was a well-known physician in Pennsylvania who also served in the Pennsylvania National Guard. His father had enough clout with the military authorities that he was able to get young Hap appointed to West Point in 1903. While at West Point he was an indifferent student, better known as being one of the leaders of "The Black Hand Society" (a group of pranksters who were not at all in the good graces of the Army Brass) than he was as a model cadet. He rather favored being assigned to the cavalry after graduation, but his grades were such that he was fortunate even to graduate as an infantryman, in 1907.

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