The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Second Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Third Award of the Army Distinguished Service Medal to General of the Army Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold (ASN: 0-2255), United States Army Air Forces, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility as Commanding General of the Army Air Forces during the period from March 1942 to April 1944. General Arnold directed air activities for the nation’s global war against Germany and Japan. Under him the air arm grew from 22,000 officers and men with 3,900 planes to nearly 2,500,000 men and 75,000 aircraft. Early in 1943 General Arnold made a 35,000-mile tour of North Africa, Middle East, India and China, and attended the Casablanca Conferences. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Arnold reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Army Air Forces.

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Army Distinguished Service Medal to General of the Army Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold (ASN: 0-2255), United States Army Air Forces, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in the performance of duties of great responsibility as Commander of the Army Air Forces during World War II. To him fell the mission of building American air power for a global war in which victory or defeat depended on control of the skies. He fulfilled his mission in a manner that overwhelmed this nation’s enemies and awed its allies. He welded the civilian productive genius of the aircraft industry, an expert military nucleus and more than 2,000,000 American soldiers to form an indomitable, unprecedented destructive weapon which coordinated with our land and sea forces to obliterate the Axis powers. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States and British Combined Chiefs of Staff, General Arnold helped shape the strategy and direct the resources of the victorious Allied forces. His wide knowledge of the employment of air power was of great value to the deliberations of the Chiefs of Staff. From concept to execution, General Arnold’s leadership guided the mightiest air force in history. No single factor of the great allied victories was more vital than the destruction of the capacity of Germany and Japan to wage modern technological warfare. The long range precision attacks of massed air power which accomplished this objective were the products of his genius. At the same time General Arnold directed the training and equipment of the United States Tactical Air Force so that when the great decisive three-dimensional battles of World War II were joined, his fighters and attack bombers were ready to sweep the skies of the enemy and deny him mobility on the surface. During the growth of the Air Arm, General Arnold constantly increased the effectiveness of its activities by imaginative conceptions concerning the application of air power to strategy and tactics and by the development of potent new weapons. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of General Arnold and his dedicated contributions in the service of his country reflect the highest credit upon himself and the United States Army Air Forces.