December 15, 1944: Five-Star Officers

Admiral of the Fleet William D. Leahy

December 15, 1944: William D. Leahy is named the 1st Fleet Admiral, a 5-star Admiral. This makes him the 1st U.S. military officer, in any branch, to wear 5 stars. Regardless of official status, George Washington, Andrew Jackson and Zachary Taylor never wore more than 2 stars; while Ulysses S. Grant and John J. Pershing limited themselves to 4.

The next day, December 16, George C. Marshall was named the 1st 5-star General in U.S. history: "General of the Army." On December 17, Ernest J. King was named a Fleet Admiral. On December 18, Douglas MacArthur was named a General of the Army. On December 19, Chester Nimitz was named an Admiral of the Fleet. On December 20, Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower was named a General of the Army. On December 21, 1944, Henry H. "Hap" Arnold was named a General of the Army.

On December 11, 1945, after V-E Day and V-J Day, William F. "Bull" Halsey was named an Admiral of the Fleet. On May 7, 1949, Hap Arnold was made the 1st General of the Air Force. He remains the only one.

On September 22, 1950, during the Korean War, Omar Bradley was named a General of the Army, our last. Despite some calls for it, there was no promotion from 4 stars for William C. Westmoreland (Vietnam War), Colin Powell (Persian Gulf War) or Norman Schwarzkopf (also the Persian Gulf War). There has never been a 5-star General in the U.S. Marine Corps.

After World War II, it was recommended that George C. Marshall be named the 1st Field Marshal in American history. Other countries have that rank, but America doesn't. President Harry S Truman admitted that Marshall deserved it, but thought that calling him "Marshal Marshall" wouldn't be dignified. So we still don’t have the rank.

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December 15, 1944 was also the day the Battle of the Bulge began in the Ardennes Forest of France, Belgium and Luxembourg. It was Nazi Germany's last stand on the Western Front. On December 22, the Nazis sent an officer to deliver a surrender demand to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, then stationed in Bastogne, Belgium, and virtually surrounded. General Anthony McAuliffe, in command, sent him away with a one-word reply: "Nuts!"

The Nazis held the upper hand through Christmas, but the day after, the 4th Armored Division arrived with reinforcements, and turned the tide of the battle. Once that happened, the Nazis were doomed, both on the Western Front and overall.

It was also the day that Glenn Miller, the biggest bandleader of the World War II era, disappeared, his plane lost somewhere over the English Channel, as he was preparing for a concert for the troops in Paris. I have a separate entry for that event.

And it was the day the film Hollywood Canteen opened. I have a separate entry for that, too.

December 15, 1944 was a Friday. Baseball was in the off-season. The NFL Championship Game was played 2 days later, with the Green Bay Packers beating the New York Giants, 14-7 at the Polo Grounds in New York. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And, while the NHL was in-season, no games were scheduled for that day. So there are no scores on this historic day.