Lt. Gen. Archie Old was a very colorful man

Lt. Gen. Archie J. Old Jr. liked to say he was from Atlanta and Cass County, Texas.

He wasn’t really. He’d been born in Farmersville, Texas, 1906, and spent several of his childhood years in Dangerfield.

But he liked to say he was from Atlanta, because his wife Annis was from here, and she was a member of the well-respected Allday family.

Lt. Old’s mother had been born in rural Cass County. The Old family moved around Northeast Texas, and Lt. Old, himself, is buried in Pine Crest Cemetery.

But, most importantly, Old had a very decisive personality and was a three-star general with major achievements. He knew where he thought his home was, and, when asked, this is what he would say.

“My father owned a string of lumber yards in the blackland area of Texas east and northeast of Dallas. So when I’m asked I say, ‘Well, Atlanta, Texas, like the one in Georgia, but Texas. That’s my wife’s hometown.’” Archie’s story is lovingly told in the 2011 book, “Warrior General: The Legend and Legacy of Archie J. Old, Jr.” by his nephew, the late Jack Stuart Allday.

If one does not know of this local son, here are three of his major achievements: — As commander of the 8th Air Force’s 45th Combat Bombardment Wing, he had led the legendary 1943 raid against the ball-bearing plants of Schweinfurt, Germany, considered the largest aerial battle to have occurred. Some 376 (B-17s) were sent, 291 made it over target, 60 failed to return. The total loss included 600 flight crew.

— In June, 1944, he led the first shuttle bomb run from England to Russia.

— In 1957, he helped create aviation history by leading three Boeing B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers in the first non-stop around-the-world flight, a mission of 24,325 miles requiring 45 hours and 19 minutes.

Jack Stuart Allday wrote of the lieutenant general that he was “combative, colorful, outspoken and absolutely fearless about sticking up for what he felt was right, regardless of the consequences.”

He was also a relentless worker who left a mark on the air force. Old made the cover of the national magazine The Saturday Evening Post in 1942, and his B-52’s planes were pictured on the 1957 cover of Life Magazine.

He’d headed the 15th Air Force for 10 years, an unusually long time for such a command. Among his nearly 40 medals was the Purple Heart. He also was presented the Distinguished Service Medal, the nation’s highest decoration for service not involving combat.

Foreign nations honored him with the French Legion of Honor, the British Distinguished Flying Cross and the Russian Order of Suvorov.

He became friends with famous people such as Bob Hope, Jack Dempsey and Frank Sinatra. The General Old Golf Course at March Air Force Base is named after him.

But, still, Archie Old liked to come to Atlanta, his adopted hometown. When he was buried here after his death at age 77 in Riverside, California, Allday writes that a B-52 flew low over the funeral ceremony at Pine Crest Cemetery and dipped its wings.

Allday tells this story of the man’s influence and respectability.

“Old’s battles with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara were well known to his colleagues and almost certainly cost him a fourth star,” Allday writes in his book.

But Old would never discuss the matter. Allday continues the story. “Old’s niece, Marianne Van Bergh, recalled visiting Annis and Archie in their Riverside home one Thanksgiving. Old took a phone call in a different room and could be heard in a loud, profane exchange that was more of an argument than conversation.

When the obviously agitated Old returned to the dinner table, all he said was, “That was Mc-Namara.”

Another military historian says of Old, “Old usually pushes himself harder than his subordinates. Once at a briefing, after he himself had worked more than 14 hours, he noticed that one of his staff officers looked tired and worn.

“Go to bed, Bill,” Old said, “I’ll look after the rest of this.”

“Throughout World War II and his rise to his post of commander of the 15th Air Force, Old set rigid and exacting standards of performance. It meant pushing and driving. It meant insistence until he got what he ceaselessly demands — the best possible results,” the historian continued.

The late Bobby Allday of Atlanta, nephew to Annis, was young but remembered Archie and Annis Old’s visits to Atlanta. Annis and their daughter Adelyn came to live here with her mother during the war.

Allday’s stories show a very colorful Archie Old. “When young, Archie worked at the highway department here for awhile and began watching airplanes. He was dating my aunt then, and he would fly up here and do all kinds of aerobatics for her,” Bobby Allday said in a 2011 interview.

“Once he had a two-seater airplane and something happened when he was piloting a friend.

“Man, we’re going to have to bail out. I can’t control it,” Archie said.

“They did, and the two landed somewhere near the First Baptist Church,” Allday said.

But Archie wasn’t through. “Annis was in Shreveport at the time and out of reach by phone, and he borrowed a Ford automobile and rushed to Shreveport to tell her he was ok. He burned the car up driving it down there.”

The two made a good pair. Annis was reserved and very well liked, according to the Allday family.

Archie died March 24, 1984, at age 77 in California. His body was brought here to Atlanta for full military honors. Annis died in February of 1995 at 87.

“Visitors might be impressed that a three-star general is laid to rest here in this corner of Texas,” Jack Allday wrote in his biography. “A warrior to the end, Archie J. Old Jr. finally, reluctantly, laid down his shield.”

Editor’s note: Information for this story taken from the book “Warrior General: The Legend and Legacy of Archie J. Old, Jr.” by Jack Stuart Allday and available at the Atlanta Public Library.