USMA Class of 1928. Cullum No. 8432.
He was the son of Eggleston J. Spivey and Frances Perry Spivey.
On July 7, 1930, he married Virginia Baen Street in the Cadet Chapel at West Point.
They were the parents of one son, Delmar B. Spivey.
Delmar Taft Spivey was born on August 9, 1904 in Gatesville, North Carolina and grew up on a farm in Whaleyville, Virginia. In 1922, he entered William and Mary College and applied for a principal appointment to the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy. He received appointments to both and accepted the appointment to the Military Academy. He entered the Academy on July 2, 1923, with the Class of 1927. He graduated with the Class of 1928 due to academic problems. He chose the Infantry as his branch of service but soon transferred to the Army Air Corps. He graduated from Primary Flying School at Kelly Field on February 28, 1930 and Advance Flying School on June 31, 1930, becoming an aviator in the Army Air Corps. While a counselor at a summer camp in Maine, he met Virginia Baen Street, whose parents had a summer home at Wayne, Maine. On July 7, 1930 they were married in the Cadet Chapel at West Point. They were the parents of one son, Delmar B. Spivey, who retired as a colonel in the United States Air Force. He was stationed at many bases including Langley Field at Maxwell Field, Eglin Field and Luke Field in Hawaii. Promotion before World War II was exceptionally slow and he was a second lieutenant for six and a half years. On March 12, 1935, he was made a captain under the Air Corps early promotion much ahead of his non-flying classmates and on January 31, 1941 was promoted to major. In April 1941, he was made commander of the Air Corps Fixed Gunnery School at Eglin Field in Florida. On January 4, 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On February 3, 1942 he became the commander of the Central Instructor School and Fixed Gunnery School. He was promoted to colonel on March 1, 1942 and the next day transferred to Maxwell Field in Alabama as A-3 of the Training Center for all gunnery training in the southeast United States. In 1943, he traveled to England with several of the senior instructors from the Center to analyze the performance of the aerial gunners in the heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force. On his second mission his plane was shot down over Gelsenkirchen, Germany on August 12, 1943. He was sent to the Allied Air Officers prisoner of war camp at what is now Sagan, Poland. On his arrival at Stalag III he was the ranking senior officer in Center Compound. He took immediate steps to make the Compound a military camp. He instituted Saturday inspection and organized the Compound into units. He insisted the Germans followed the letter of the International Prisoner of War rules and had many confrontations with Colonel Von Lindeiner, the camp commandant. In January 1945 as the Russians advanced on Stalag III, the Germans decided to move the prison camp further west. The American officers were rounded up on January 27, 1945 and marched about a hundred miles in the direction of Moosburg, Germany. At the town of Spremburg, he and Brigadier General Vanaman, were taken from the other prisoners and told they were being taken to Berlin on a special mission. The Germans, through Lieutenant General Gotobb Berger, in charge of Allied Air prisoners, had called a conference of Allied Prisoner of War doctors to see what could be done to ensure that Allied prisoners were receiving the medical and food supplies furnished by the Red Cross. He and General Vanaman took part in the conferences and helped work out a system to ensure the distribution of the Red Cross parcels. American doctors were given passes to travel throughout unoccupied Germany to inspect the distribution. The real reason for their stay in Berlin was that a dissident group of high ranking German officers had decided Germany should sue for a separate peace with the United States and Britain, allying with them to defeat the Russians. He and Vanaman were selected to carry the necessary messages back to Washington. The two officers were moved from Berlin to Switzerland, where they were released in the custody of the American Consul. While General Vanaman went to Washington, he reported to General Spaatz's Headquarters at Rheims, where he was debriefed and then returned to the United States. In 1946, he was ordered to the National War College as a student. In 1948, he became chief of the Academic Staff at the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. On September 16, 1949, he was promoted to brigadier general and became chief of the War Plans Division, Headquarters United States Air Force. From there he went to command the 314th Air Division in Japan. In 1952, he was promoted to permanent major general and became the commanding general of the Japan Air Defense Force during the Korean War. He was in command of all United States Air Force combat units and all United States Air Force bases in Japan. In 1953, he returned to the United States to command the Central Air Defense Force. In 1954, he was ordered back to Maxwell as commandant of the Air War College where he retired on August 1, 1956 due to disabilities received while a prisoner of war. His decorations included: the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Purple Heart and the Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In September 1956, he arrived at Culver Military Academy in Indiana as its sixth superintendent. When he left eleven years later he had formulated the Mothers Club, an organization helpful in providing scholarships for faculty children. In 1958, he introduced the Annual Giving Program for alumni and others to give to various school activities and to construction of new buildings on the campus. Previously, this had not been permitted by the Board of Governors and led to a contributor donating a 1,500 seat auditorium. In 1959, he introduced co-education in and began a cafeteria system where the cadets provided much of the service using the money saved for scholarships to the school. When he departed in 1967, the president of the Board of Governors said, Under General Spivey's inspiring leadership, Culver has made magnificent advances in all phases of its broad programs and has achieved increased national recognition for its contributions to the education of the youth of our nation.
While at Culver he was invited to become a co-founder of the Marine Military Academy at Harlingen, Texas, as well as a trustee of the Academy. A trustee stated, More than anyone, Del helped organize the school; he faithfully attended board meetings, he inspired confidence when things looked blackest and difficult, and he obtained through his own efforts the largest contribution the school had received. Del was one of the most outstanding gentleman I ever knew.
He died on January 18, 1982. A memorial service was held at Clearwater, Florida on January 22, followed by a military burial service at West Point on June 15, 1982. Survivors included his wife, Virginia, their son Delmar and two grandsons.
Source: United States Military Academy Association of Graduates memorial.
USMA Class of 1928. Cullum No. 8432.
He was the son of Eggleston J. Spivey and Frances Perry Spivey.
On July 7, 1930, he married Virginia Baen Street in the Cadet Chapel at West Point.
They were the parents of one son, Delmar B. Spivey.
Delmar Taft Spivey was born on August 9, 1904 in Gatesville, North Carolina and grew up on a farm in Whaleyville, Virginia. In 1922, he entered William and Mary College and applied for a principal appointment to the United States Military Academy and the United States Naval Academy. He received appointments to both and accepted the appointment to the Military Academy. He entered the Academy on July 2, 1923, with the Class of 1927. He graduated with the Class of 1928 due to academic problems. He chose the Infantry as his branch of service but soon transferred to the Army Air Corps. He graduated from Primary Flying School at Kelly Field on February 28, 1930 and Advance Flying School on June 31, 1930, becoming an aviator in the Army Air Corps. While a counselor at a summer camp in Maine, he met Virginia Baen Street, whose parents had a summer home at Wayne, Maine. On July 7, 1930 they were married in the Cadet Chapel at West Point. They were the parents of one son, Delmar B. Spivey, who retired as a colonel in the United States Air Force. He was stationed at many bases including Langley Field at Maxwell Field, Eglin Field and Luke Field in Hawaii. Promotion before World War II was exceptionally slow and he was a second lieutenant for six and a half years. On March 12, 1935, he was made a captain under the Air Corps early promotion much ahead of his non-flying classmates and on January 31, 1941 was promoted to major. In April 1941, he was made commander of the Air Corps Fixed Gunnery School at Eglin Field in Florida. On January 4, 1942 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On February 3, 1942 he became the commander of the Central Instructor School and Fixed Gunnery School. He was promoted to colonel on March 1, 1942 and the next day transferred to Maxwell Field in Alabama as A-3 of the Training Center for all gunnery training in the southeast United States. In 1943, he traveled to England with several of the senior instructors from the Center to analyze the performance of the aerial gunners in the heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force. On his second mission his plane was shot down over Gelsenkirchen, Germany on August 12, 1943. He was sent to the Allied Air Officers prisoner of war camp at what is now Sagan, Poland. On his arrival at Stalag III he was the ranking senior officer in Center Compound. He took immediate steps to make the Compound a military camp. He instituted Saturday inspection and organized the Compound into units. He insisted the Germans followed the letter of the International Prisoner of War rules and had many confrontations with Colonel Von Lindeiner, the camp commandant. In January 1945 as the Russians advanced on Stalag III, the Germans decided to move the prison camp further west. The American officers were rounded up on January 27, 1945 and marched about a hundred miles in the direction of Moosburg, Germany. At the town of Spremburg, he and Brigadier General Vanaman, were taken from the other prisoners and told they were being taken to Berlin on a special mission. The Germans, through Lieutenant General Gotobb Berger, in charge of Allied Air prisoners, had called a conference of Allied Prisoner of War doctors to see what could be done to ensure that Allied prisoners were receiving the medical and food supplies furnished by the Red Cross. He and General Vanaman took part in the conferences and helped work out a system to ensure the distribution of the Red Cross parcels. American doctors were given passes to travel throughout unoccupied Germany to inspect the distribution. The real reason for their stay in Berlin was that a dissident group of high ranking German officers had decided Germany should sue for a separate peace with the United States and Britain, allying with them to defeat the Russians. He and Vanaman were selected to carry the necessary messages back to Washington. The two officers were moved from Berlin to Switzerland, where they were released in the custody of the American Consul. While General Vanaman went to Washington, he reported to General Spaatz's Headquarters at Rheims, where he was debriefed and then returned to the United States. In 1946, he was ordered to the National War College as a student. In 1948, he became chief of the Academic Staff at the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. On September 16, 1949, he was promoted to brigadier general and became chief of the War Plans Division, Headquarters United States Air Force. From there he went to command the 314th Air Division in Japan. In 1952, he was promoted to permanent major general and became the commanding general of the Japan Air Defense Force during the Korean War. He was in command of all United States Air Force combat units and all United States Air Force bases in Japan. In 1953, he returned to the United States to command the Central Air Defense Force. In 1954, he was ordered back to Maxwell as commandant of the Air War College where he retired on August 1, 1956 due to disabilities received while a prisoner of war. His decorations included: the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Purple Heart and the Honorary Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In September 1956, he arrived at Culver Military Academy in Indiana as its sixth superintendent. When he left eleven years later he had formulated the Mothers Club, an organization helpful in providing scholarships for faculty children. In 1958, he introduced the Annual Giving Program for alumni and others to give to various school activities and to construction of new buildings on the campus. Previously, this had not been permitted by the Board of Governors and led to a contributor donating a 1,500 seat auditorium. In 1959, he introduced co-education in and began a cafeteria system where the cadets provided much of the service using the money saved for scholarships to the school. When he departed in 1967, the president of the Board of Governors said, Under General Spivey's inspiring leadership, Culver has made magnificent advances in all phases of its broad programs and has achieved increased national recognition for its contributions to the education of the youth of our nation.
While at Culver he was invited to become a co-founder of the Marine Military Academy at Harlingen, Texas, as well as a trustee of the Academy. A trustee stated, More than anyone, Del helped organize the school; he faithfully attended board meetings, he inspired confidence when things looked blackest and difficult, and he obtained through his own efforts the largest contribution the school had received. Del was one of the most outstanding gentleman I ever knew.
He died on January 18, 1982. A memorial service was held at Clearwater, Florida on January 22, followed by a military burial service at West Point on June 15, 1982. Survivors included his wife, Virginia, their son Delmar and two grandsons.
Source: United States Military Academy Association of Graduates memorial.
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