Lucius D. Clay

Lucius Clay Dubignon ( born April 23, 1898 in Marietta, Georgia, † April 16, 1978 in Chatham, Massachusetts) was a general in the U.S. Army from 1947 to 1949 military governor of the American zone of occupation in Germany.

Life

Clay was born as the son of the senator of the state of Georgia, Alexander Stephens Clay and occurred after the completion of the Military Academy at West Point, in 1918, the Army Corps of Engineers a. As Deputy Chief of Staff General Dwight D. Eisenhower put Clay in World War II after the invasion in 1944 the port of Cherbourg repaired and was subsequently appointed Deputy Head of the Office for war planning and mobilization.

In May 1945, Clay was deputy General Eisenhower after the German capitulation deputy military governor of the U.S. zone of occupation. From 1947 to 1949 he was even then military governor of the U.S. Zone. As such, he initiated the formation of the bizone, accelerated democratization in its zone, initiator and was responsible for the establishment of the Berlin Airlift of 1948 / 49th The following year he was commissioned to accompany the Berlin Liberty Bell in a kind of triumphal tour of the United States and West Germany and handed them on 21 October 1950 Berliners.

Meanwhile, retired from the military, he became CEO of several companies in the economy until reactivated him, 1961, President John F. Kennedy as a personal representative in Berlin.

Clay was born on the cemetery of the Military Academy at West Point to the grave. His sons Lucius D. Clay, Jr. (1919-1994) and Frank Butner Clay (1921-2006) also proposed a military careers. Both sons were buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Honors

Since 1 June 1949, the former Kronprinzenallee bears in Berlin the name Clayallee. Clay was in 1953 awarded an honorary doctorate from the Free University of Berlin. 1962 Lucius D. Clay was named an honorary citizen of Berlin. In 1965 Clay the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit awarded. In 1975, a comprehensive school with Gymnasium upper level opens in the Berlin district of Rudow, which received the name " Clay " school. On October 17, 1978, " Lucius D. Clay Kaserne" in the Garlstedter heath was opened in Lower Saxony Osterholz for the U.S. Army. She is a Bundeswehr location since October 1, 1993, continues to bear the name Clay.

Clay also received the Konrad -Adenauer -Stiftung Prize of Germany. The DM 32,000 prize money he donated to the Association of German -American Clubs. This created by these means the " Lucius D. Clay Medal", awarded annually since 1980 as part of the celebrations for German -American Day at people who have made outstanding contributions to German -American relations.

On 23 April 2006, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the former residence Clays in Berlin -Dahlem, amongst others, the U.S. Ambassador William R. Timken, Jr.. Guest of honor at the ceremony was Clay's son, Frank B. Clay.

In Wiesbaden Army Airfield, starting point of the airlift flights, was also named after Clay.