| Ramey,
Roger Maxwell Lieutenant General. Commander of Fifth Air Force after Korean War: b. Emblem, Tex., Sept. 9, 1903; d. Long Beach, Calif., Mar. 4, 1963. Roger Ramey grew up in Denton, Tex., where he attended North Texas Teachers College before going to the U.S. Military Academy in 1924. He got his commission in June 1928, took flying training at Brooks and Kelly Fields, Tex., and became a pilot in Sept. 1929. He served with the 27th, 17th, and 38th Pursuit Squadrons at Selfridge Field, Mich. Until July 1934 when he went to Randolph Field as an instructor, with promotion in Sept. to first lieutenant and in June 1938 to captain. He went to Hawaii in Mar. 1939 as Intelligence Officer of the 18th Pursuit Group at Wheeler Field, becoming CO of the 19th Squadron in July and Executive Officer of the 18th Group the following Apr. Ramey was sent to Hickam Field in Oct. 1940 as CO of the 42nd Bomb Squadron, where he was promoted in Jan. 1941 to major. A year later he was upped to lieutenant colonel as Plans and Training Officer for the 7th Bomb Command, with promotion in Mar. to colonel. In Oct. 1942, he went to the 5th AF, becoming CO of the 43rd Bomb Group the following Jan. Ramey went with it to the Southwest Pacific, taking command of the 5th Bomb Command in June 1943. He was promoted to brigadier general the next month. He returned to the U.S. in Dec. as CG of the 38th Flying Training Wing at Kirtland Field, N.M., and in May 1944 went to Peterson Field, Colo. as CG of the 314th Bomb Wing. In June he became Chief of Staff of the 21st Bomb Command and that Nov. returned to the Pacific with it. Ramey went to India in Jan. 1945 as CG of the 58th Bomb Wing, taking it to the Marianas that Apr. He returned home after the war and commanded the 58th at Bolling Field, Md. and Fort Worth Army Air Field in Tex. In the summer of 1946 he headed the AAF Task Force that participated in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini. That fall the 8th AF grew out of the 58th Wing at Fort Worth and Ramey became its CG in Jan. 1947. He was promoted to major general in Oct. In June 1950 he went to HQ USAF as Asst. to the DCS for Ops, and moved up to Director of Ops. He took command of the 5th AF under FEAF in Korea in May 1954 and was promoted to three-star rank. In 1956 he came back to Colorado Springs as Deputy C-in-C of Continental ADC and Vice Commander of ADC. Gen Ramey retired from the service on Jan. 31, 1957 and died Mar. 4, 1963 in the Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, Calif. |