By Den Ardinger 32° KCCH

Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold was bornJune 25, 1886,in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Dr. Herbert Alonzo Arnold (1857-1933) and his wife, Anna Louise Harley.  His father was a surgeon in the Pennsylvania National Guard for twenty-four years. 

Arnold graduated from Lower Merion High School in 1903.  In his early years he considered becoming a minister but entered the United States Military Academy at West Point instead and graduated in 1907 as a second lieutenant.  He had wanted the Cavalry but was assigned to the 29th Infantry Division in the Philippines.  He arrived in Manila on December 7, 1907.

He disliked the infantry so temporarily transferred to a group mapping the island of Luzon.  While doing this he transferred to the Signal Corps.  He had an early interest in aviation and had a course in flight instruction at Dayton, Ohio in May 1911. He was one of the first military aviators and held Military Aviator Certificate Number 2.

He was one of the Army’s first flight instructors and held many records including the first to reach 3,260 feet on June 7, 1911.  In August, he had his first of numerous crashes while taking off from a farmer’s field.  In September, he was the first pilot to carry U.S. mail on Long Island, New York for five miles.  Shortly afterwards he became the first pilot to fly over the U.S. Capitol.  At this time, he was in two silent movies, The Military Air-Scout and The Elopement, as a stunt pilot. It was during this time as a stunt pilot that he was given the nickname “Hap” for “Happy” by his friends.

His early flying experiences included being among the first to spot “enemy” troops maneuvering in the field, and the first to use telegraphy radio in a plane to contact artillery on the ground.  Accidents were common and he lost a few close friends in crashes.  To lessen his chances of a fatal accident, he took a staff assignment to head the new Aeronautical Division of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer in Washington, D.C.

In 1913, he married Eleanor “Bee” Pool and they traveled together to Manila in 1914 where his first child was born in 1915.  While there, he became close friends with George C. Marshall who was then a First Lieutenant.

Returning to the United States in 1916, he again qualified as a Junior Military Aviator and began flying again.  In 1917, he was assigned to Panama, one day after the birth of his second child.

When the United States entered World War I, Arnold assembled his first command, the 7th Aero Squadron and was quickly promoted to Major.  On August 5, 1917, he was promoted to Colonel which made him the youngest Colonel in the U. S. Army.  In 1918, his third child was born.  He was enroute to France to see General John Pershing, Commander of the American Expeditionary Force, when he came down with flu.  He was hospitalized in England and did not get to the front until the day the war ended, November 11, 1918.

Between the World Wars, air power continued to grow in importance and Arnold’s position within it grew accordingly.  By 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him as the Chief of the Air Corps.  With the winds of war once again on the horizon, one of his first duties was to encourage the development of a long-range bomber.  One of the first projects was the development of the B-17 Flying Fortress.

The week after the U. S. entered World War II in December 1941, Arnold was promoted to lieutenant general (three stars).  He then reorganized the flying portion of the Army into a separate Army Air Corps with Arnold as the Commanding General.  The Air Corps was rapidly growing and called for the construction of 75,000 aircraft and 2.7 million men.  The German Luftwaffe was set as the first target in Europe with the German submarines as the second.  The B-29 bomber was developed for use against Japan in the west. 

By 1943, Arnold’s health had begun to fail and within the next two years he had four heart attacks.  Under heavy stress from the war effort, and determined to succeed, he had a need to always be present at the scene where and when problems were encountered.  In March 1943 he was promoted to full general (four stars) and in 1944 he was promoted to General of the Army (five stars) which placed him just behind Eisenhower, MacArthur, and his friend, Marshall.

His health continued to deteriorate in 1946 and in 1948 he was hospitalized for three months.

In 1949, an act created the grade of General of the Air Force, and this changed his title.  This made him the only person to have held five-star rank in two different U.S. military services; in his case the Army and the Air Force.

Arnold died January 15, 1950, at his home.  He was given a state funeral in Washington, D.C. and was buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Hap Arnold was raised a Master Mason on November 3, 1927, at Union Lodge No. 7 in Junction City, Kansas.    He joined the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite on April 11, 1929, at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.  On October 19, 1945, he was coronated a 33° Inspector General Honorary in the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite.  The Lodge at Edwards Air Force Base in California was renamed General Henry H. Arnold Lodge No. 791 on November 21, 1958.  On February 8, 1960, the Hap Arnold Lodge No. 457 was chartered at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, Louisiana.

In his lifetime he was awarded many honors and military decorations.  He was awarded Honorary Doctorate Degrees from nine different universities and was awarded twenty-six military decorations.  In 1988, the United States Postal Service released the H.H. “Hap” Arnold 65 cent postage stamp.  Major streets and boulevards have been named after him.

General Hap Arnold, more than a man, a 33° Scottish Rite Mason.