Father & Son.

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"Swede"

Here with more American military dynasties. Father and son both having distinguished military careers. Men devoted to serving their country, accomplishing what few are able to do, a legacy being established that continues from father to son! Esteemed and respected, historical figures of some repute!

A pattern in the U.S. military that seems to last only two generations and then no more? I am thinking of high ranking persons, flag officers and such.

1. The family Chaffee, father and son both named Adna.

* Adna Chaffee. The father. Rose from the rank of private to Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army!! A man with a almost continuous record of combat duty under a variety of circumstances.

"Adna Romanza Chaffee (April 14, 1842 – November 1, 1914) was a General in the United States Army. Chaffee took part in the American Civil War and Indian Wars, played a key role in the Spanish-American War, and was instrumental at crushing the Boxer Rebellion in China. He was the Army Chief of Staff from 1904 to 1906"

Again, a military man, hardly a slacker, with an amazing record of combat duty in a career that lasted over forty years. Consider the record of Chaffee:

American Civil War
*Peninsular Campaign
*Maryland Campaign
*Appomattox Campaign

Indian Wars
*Battle of Paint Creek
*Battle of Red River
*Battle of Big Dry Wash

Spanish-American War
*Cuban Campaign

Boxer Rebellion
*Battle of Peking

Philippine-American War
*Mindanao Campaign

* And the son of Chaffee, again, also named Adna. Distinguished himself first as a cavalry officer and then as a commander of embryonic tank formations. "Father of the Armored Force"!

"Adna Romanza Chaffee, Jr. (September 23, 1884–August 22, 1941), was a major general in the United States Army, called the 'father of the Armored Force' for his role in developing the U.S. Army's tank forces."

2. The naval family Momsen. Both named Charles Bowers, Sr. and Jr. naval officers, researchers and experimenters into deep-diving and rescue techniques, "going where no man has gone before"! And doing so with panache'! Both men during the Second World War seeing extensive combat action as submariners.

* Charles Bowers Momsen "Swede Momsen" (June 21, 1896 - May 25, 1967) . . . He was an American pioneer in submarine rescue and invented the underwater escape device called the Momsen Lung, for which he received the Distinguished Service Medal in 1929."

"He [Sr.] was in charge of the rescue of the 33 crewmen who survived the sinking of the Squalus in May, 1939 in 240 feet of water"

The diving bell, as pioneered by "Swede", working almost flawlessly in the unprecedented rescue of American sailors trapped on a sunken U.S. submarine. An amazing rescue that represented A FIRST!!

* And the son of "Swede", Charles B. Jr., also a man of the oceans deep waters. An explorer and commander of the Office of Naval Research [ONR] . While in command of the ONR, oversaw the development of deep-diving vehicles, the Aluminaut and the Alvin, vessels that played a KEY role in the recovery of a missing hydrogen bomb, lost in the waters off the coast of Spain. The Palomares incident.

Legacies of this type still continue? Famous high-ranking military man has a son who also aspires to a military career of honor and achievement? NOT for just anyone! ONLY the best, the brightest, the most determined can rise to the top. To those that are able to, grand honneur à vous!!

coolbert.