Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (1899 - 1954)

Born 24 Jan 1899 in Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Gladys Merritt (Rose) Vandenberg — married 26 Dec 1923 in Bexar, Bexar, Texas, United States

Died 2 Apr 1954 at age 55 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States

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Biography

Hoyt Vandenberg is Notable.

Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on January 24, 1899. ^[1] He is the son of William Collins Vandenberg and Rose Pearl Kane. Hoyt's uncle was Arthur H. Vandenberg, a United States Senator from Michigan. He grew up in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he spent his teenage years. Hoyt was one of the first Eagle Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America's Lowell Council.

After graduation from high school, he earned an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point. His first three years as a cadet were under the tenure of Superintendent, General Douglas MacArthur. Hoyt graduated from the U. S. M. A. on June 12, 1923, and he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Air Service. He was sent to Flying School in Brookfield, Texas, and subsequently, to Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas. He graduated in 1924, and was assigned to the Third Attack Group at Kelly Field, Texas, and assumed command of the 90th Attack Squadron. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1928. During the next several years, Vandenberg served as a flight instructor at various locations. He was promoted to captain in 1935. In 1936, he was chosen to attend the Army War College, and he graduated in June 1939.

Vandenberg was then assigned to the Plans Division in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps. He was promoted to major in 1940, and to lieutenant colonel in November, 1941. Several months after the United States entered World War II, he was promoted to colonel, and he became operations and training officer of the Air Staff. For his services in these two positions he received the Distinguished Service Medal. In December, 1942, Vandenberg was promoted to brigadier general.

In 1943, Vandenberg was sent to the United Kingdom to help organize the Allied air force operations in North Africa. He then became chief of staff of the Northwest African Strategic Air Force, and he personally flew in numerous missions over Tunisia, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily and Pantelleria. During that duty, Vandenberg was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Legion of Merit. In August 1943, Vandenberg became Deputy Chief of Staff at Air Force Headquarters, and in that position he became Head of an Air Mission to Russia, under Ambassador Averell Harriman. Following the Mission to Russia, Vandenberg returned to the United States in January 1944. In March 1944, Vandenberg returned to the European theater of operations, was promoted to temporary major general, and was appointed Deputy Air Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, and Commander of its American Air component. He assisted in the planning of D-Day operations, scheduled for early June in 1944. In August 1944, he assumed command of the Ninth Air Force in the European theater of operations. In March, 1945, Vandenberg was promoted to lieutenant general.

After the end of the war in Europe, Vandenberg was appointed Chief of Air Staff at Air Force headquarters. In January, 1946, he was appointed as the Director of Intelligence on the War Department general staff. He served in that position until June, 1946, when he was appointed as the Director of Central Military Intelligence, the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

In April 1947, Vandenberg returned to regular Air Force duty, and he was appointed Deputy Commander and Chief of Air Staff. That same year, the War Department was reorganized as part of the Deparment of Defense, with a new Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force. Following the re-organization, Vandenberg was appointed to the position of Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force on October 1, 1947. With the appointment, he was also promoted to rank of full general, U. S. Army Air Corps.

On April 30, 1948, General Vandenberg became Chief of Staff of the Air Force, succeeding General Carl Spaatz, as the second chief of staff of the U. S. Air Force. On the same day, he was made general, U. S. Air Force. He oversaw the build-up of the Air Force during the Korean War, which began on June 25, 1950. President Harry Truman re-nominated Vandenberg to a second term as Chief of Staff of the Air Force for the period from March 1952 onward. Vandenberg’s nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 28, 1952. Near the end of his tenure, in 1953, Vandenberg opposed cuts to the Air Force budget, seeing them as detrimental to the progress of that arm of the service. He retired as Air Force Chief of Staff on June 30, 1953.

Vandenberg was already suffering from prostate cancer, and he died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on April 2, 1954. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

Hoyt Vandenburg married Gladys Merritt Rose in Bexar, Texas, on December 26, 1923. He is the father of Gloria Rose Vandenberg Miller and Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, Jr.

Sources

1. ↑ "Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR54-68N : 11 February 2018), Hoyt S. Vanden Berg, 24 Jan 1899; citing Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reference 1320; FHL microfilm 1,305,122.

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MP2Y-BZS : accessed 18 January 2020), Hoyt S Vandenberg in household of Wm C Vandenberg, Milwaukee Ward 18, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 194, sheet 11A, family , NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1727; FHL microfilm 1,375,740.

• "Wisconsin Birth Index, 1820-1907," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHHB-TJQ : 4 December 2014), Hoyt S Vandenberg, 24 Jan 1899; from "Wisconsin Births, 1820-1907," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2000); citing Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reel 0192, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Vital Records Division, Madison.

• "Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR54-68N : 30 January 2020), Hoyt S. Vanden Berg, 1899.

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMKL-13P : accessed 5 May 2021), Hoyt S Sandenberg in household of Sanford Kane, Milwaukee city Ward 18, Precinct 6, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 163, sheet 17A, family 331, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,241,805.

• "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6XH-TZW : 23 February 2021), Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, 1917-1918.

• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX1S-6GV : 1 February 2021), Hoyt S Vandenberg in entry for Collins Vandenberg, 1920.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH12-LDN : accessed 5 May 2021), Hoyt S Vandenberg, Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 133, sheet 10A, line 14, family 44, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2635; FHL microfilm 2,342,369.

• "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24NF-STQ : 2 March 2021), Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, 1931; citing Immigration, New York, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K7SG-QVX : 22 December 2019), Hoyt Vandenberg, Tract 7, District of Columbia, Police Precinct 7, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1-252A, sheet 6B, line 46, family 174, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 561.

• "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2H9Z-26B : 2 March 2021), Hoyt Vandenberg, 1943; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "Virginia, Marriage Certificates, 1936-1988," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV1M-W6B9 : 20 February 2021), Hoyt S Vandenberg in entry for Robert Ransome Miller and Gloria Rose Vandenberg, 25 Oct 1946; from "Virginia, Marriage Records, 1700-1850," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2012); citing , Arlington, Virginia, United States, certificate 36506, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond.

• "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q53T-VS7K : 18 July 2020), Gen Hoyt S Vandenberg, 1954.

• Vandenberg, Hoyt Sanford. Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg papers. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78043935.

• Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/18232/hoyt-sanford-vandenberg : accessed 05 May 2021), memorial page for Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (24 Jan 1899–2 Apr 1954), Find a Grave Memorial ID 18232, citing Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoyt_Vandenberg

Additional Sources

Frisbee, John L., ed. Makers of the United States Air Force. Washington, D. C.: Office of Air Force History, 1987. [pp. 205-228]

Goldberg, Alfred, ed. A History of the United States Air Force, 1907-1957. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand, 1957. [p. 156]

Meilinger, Phillip S. Hoyt S. Vandenberg: The Life of a General. Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press, 1989.

Mossman, B.C.; Stark, M.W. (1991) [1971]. "CHAPTER X, Former Air Force Chief of Staff General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Special Military Funeral, 2–5 April 1954". The Last Salute: Civil and Military Funeral, 1921-1969. United States Army Center of Military History. CMH Pub 90-1.

https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/hoyt-sanford-vandenberg-sr/ Accessed May 5, 2021

https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/105311/general-hoyt-s-vandenberg/ Accessed May 5, 2021