William C. Lee

Major General William Carey "Bill" Lee (March 12, 1895 – June 25, 1948) was an American U.S. Army soldier and general. Lee is often referred to as the "Father of the U.S. Airborne".

Biography
William Carey Lee was born in Dunn, North Carolina, one of the seven children of Eldridge Lee and his wife Emma. His father was a merchant. He attended Wake Forest College and North Carolina State College. He participated in the ROTC program, graduated from NC State. and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army in 1917. Lee served in World War I with the American Expeditionary Force in France.

By the time the United States entered World War II, Lee had reached the rank of major general and was a proponent of paratrooper warfare. Although airborne units were not popular with U.S. Army commanders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored the concept, and Lee was authorized to form the first paratroop platoon. This was followed by the Provisional Parachute Group, and finally the United States Army Airborne Command. Lee was the first commander of the Army's jump school at Fort Benning, Georgia. He received the Distinguished Service Medal for his early leadership in the creation of the airborne forces.

In August 1942, Lee was the commander of the newly formed 101st Airborne Division, based at Camp Claiborne, in Louisiana. He told his men, "The 101st has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny."

Lee helped plan the D-Day drops into Normandy, and trained to jump with his men. However, he was ordered to the United States several months before the invasion, suffering either a heart attack or a stroke. He was replaced in by General Maxwell D. Taylor. To honor their founder, the paratroopers yelled "Bill Lee" as they jumped into France on D-Day.

William Lee retired from the Army for reasons of health in late 1944. He died at his home in Dunn, North Carolina four years later.

Honors
The General William C. Lee Airborne Museum is located in Dunn, in his former home.

On October 11, 2004 the U.S. Senate passed a bill to rename the Dunn Post Office, the "General William Carey Lee Post Office."

Lee Residence Hall, one of the largest dormitories at North Carolina State University, is named after William C. Lee.

[NOTE: The "Bill Lee Freeway" in Charlotte, North Carolina, a section of Interstate 77 is named for William States Lee III (1929–1996), president and CEO of Duke Power and no known relation to the general.]