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My Life So Far: "I never really thought about wanting to be a general"
Bob Duffy, 87, retired brigadier general
COURTNEY POTTER
Retired Gen. Bob Duffy says he feels most at home in his den, which is filled with memorobilia from World War II, an assortment of books and a collection of family photographs. Duffy, who worked under Gen. George Patton, served in the war as a lieutenant and later a one-star general by the time he was forced into retirement in the 1970s. Courtney Potter/Staff.
COURTNEY POTTER
Retired Gen. Bob Duffy laughs among his collection of family photographs in his home on Monday. Duffy, who worked under Gen. George Patton, served in World War II as a lieutenant and later a one-star general by the time he was forced into retirement in the 1970s.
COURTNEY POTTER
Retired Gen. Bob Duffy holds a picture of himself taken in 1968. Duffy, who worked under Patton, served in WWII as a Lieutenant and later a one-star general by the time he was forced into retirement in the 1970s.
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Sitting in the study of his North Naples high-rise condominium, Bob Duffy points to the accolades hanging from his wall.
"And this one ...," he says repeatedly as he goes to the next career highlight. His life has taken him from the outskirts of the Pennsylvania coal mines to the Pentagon. In between, he served in two wars, and helped develop guidance systems for ballistic missiles and the Apollo space program. He went in as an underage kid and he left as a 1-star general.
"You always like to brag about your life," he says. "That’s part of the fun of doing it all, right?"
This is his story in his own words.
I’m 87 or 88. It doesn’t really matter. You keep getting older every day. But at this point, what’s one year?
I was widowed for three years before I got remarried. I guess that’s about the right amount of time.
I grew up in the boondocks of Pennsylvania and enlisted (in the U.S. Air Force) illegally when I was 17. I didn’t want to work in the coal mines, so I had to do something.
My father was pissed off, but I didn’t have any other choice. That’s what all the kids who were Irish or Polish or Italian ended up doing.
I had lots of friends who worked in the mines. Some of them died from the vigorous life they led in the mines. Some of them died from the vigorous life outside of the mines.
I went into the Air Force, but not as a flyer. I had bad eyesight. Plus, back then, you had to have a college degree to fly planes.
I served all over South America before World War II. Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua. Then they decided to send me to (officers’ school). I guess they figured if I couldn’t fly, they should get something else out of me.
I got sent to North Africa at first. The commander was a guy named Patton. Georgie. He was a tough little feisty son of a bitch.
I ended up in Italy for most of the war. That’s where I met my wife. She was working with the Red Cross.
We lost a lot of pilots during that time. But we were young. You bounce back quickly when you are young. It was sad, but you didn’t fall apart. It was just part of the action.
Us ground pounders felt slightly inferior (to the pilots), but just slightly. They were the one’s putting their lives in danger with each flight.
When the war was over, I was just 23. I had no education or couth. Thank God they sent me to Georgia Tech.
I had to keep getting promoted. I had this family to support that kept getting bigger. I was a lieutenant when I had my first kid. By the time I was a captain I had two. Then it was three, four and five.
I guess that’s what happens when you are such a stud. (Laughs)
How do you get to be a general? Well, in those days you took an exam. And if you had good reviews from your commanders then you got bumped up.
I never really thought about wanting to be a general. I just wanted to be good at whatever I was doing.
If I hadn’t gone to Vietnam, I wouldn’t have gotten the (general’s) star. You had to be exposed to a lot of circumstances.
I was a Department of Defense representative with Gen. (William) Westmoreland.
Westmoreland was paranoid that (former Secretary of Defense Robert) McNamara had spies. I was there because I had the confidence of Westmoreland that I wouldn’t be a spy.
There’s a paranoia that exists with everyone in command. You think, ‘Is that little son of a bitch talking about me behind my back?’
I thought (Vietnam) was a dumb war. But once you did get into it, you wanted to do the best you can.
We went into World War II for very good reasons. I think the same thing with Korea, we might have been a little close to the edge there. But Vietnam was dumb. And the war we are in now is dumb. We’re in it for all the wrong reasons.
We never thought we were going to lose to the Russians. We never once thought that they could be better than us. You couldn’t think like that.
But it was a disappointment (when they launched Sputnik). We knew that we could have done that first. But it was a wake-up call for our government.
I would have loved to have kept on going. It was a disappointment when they asked me to retire.
On the first of July 1971, they came up to me and said, ‘Duff, you are at the end of the line.’
The DOD didn’t need generals who weren’t flyers or weren’t in charge of troops. They were ready to promote the younger guys, the guys who had earned their shots. I agreed with the position. It pissed me off, but I agreed with it.
You are always a little scared of death. That will end it all forever. But if you’ve been in a war, you are probably a little bit less scared than most.
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Great story. These WW II vets were the kind of soldiers that we needed during those bad times - hard nosed and crusty. As a two year draftee near the end of the Korean war I was assigned to two generals as their temporary driver. One was a major general who had survived the Bataan death march. General Duffy's candid assessments of situations brought back memories. General Duffy, thank you for your service.
#1 Posted by jimer on July 5, 2008 at 8:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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