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Mason Mathews Patrick, (December 13, 1863–January 29, 1942) was a general officer in the United States Army who led the United States Army Air Service and Air Corps during the Interwar Period. He was born and educated in Lewisburg, West Virginia and at age 18 entered U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he finished second in his class behind classmate John J. Pershing. Early in his career he served as Chief Engineer for the Army of Cuban Pacification and 1st US Army Engineer on the U.S.-Mexico border. He served in France during World War I and was appointed Chief of Air Service by General Pershing in 1918. Under his direction the Air Service established experimental facilities at Wright Field, Ohio and San Antonio, Texas. In 1926 he drafted and proposed the The Air Corps Act (44 ''Stat.'' 780) to the Military Affairs Committee of the Congress. The act created the United States Army Air Corps from the existing Air Service. Patrick served as commander of the Air Corps until his retirement in 1927. He died in Washington, D.C. on January 29, 1942. == Early life == Mason Mathews Patrick was born in Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia on December 13, 1863 to Alfred Spicer Patrick and Virginia (Mathews) Patrick.〔White, Robert (2001). Mason Patrick. Smithsonian, 2001〕 His family was prominent in Greenbrier County. His father was a surgeon who served as such in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. His paternal grandfather, Spicer Patrick, also a surgeon, served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate during the Civil War, on the side of the Union.〔Atkinson, George and Gibbens, W. (1890). Prominent Men of West Virginia. Callin Publishing, Wheeling, WV, 1890.〕 His maternal grandfather, Mason Mathews, was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates during wartime, on the side of the Confederacy.〔Combs, James Thurl (1987). "Greenbrier, C.S.A. Wartime Letters of Mason Mathews to his son Captain Joseph William Mathews, C.S.A." The Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society (Parsons, West Virginia: Greenbrier Historical Society) V (1): 5-44.〕 In Lewisburg, Patrick attended local public and private schools and on graduation taught for two years at his former high school. At age 18 he won an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.〔 At West Point, Patrick excelled in mathematics and engineering, and he was reported to have spoken excellent French. Biographer Robert P. White described young Patrick as "well read, almost Renaissance in nature." 〔 Outside of the classroom, he received numerous demerits for misconduct; his infractions included tobacco use, use of profanity, lateness, two citations for "sliding down the banister," and he was cited 24 times for being improperly dressed.〔 At the academy he would make friends with classmate John J. Pershing. Their senior year, Pershing and Patrick held the top two posts in the class, being first and second captains of the Corps of Cadets, respectively.〔 Patrick graduated from West Point in 1886. The following three years he attended the Engineer School of Application, Willets Point, New York, graduating in 1889. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army shortly after graduation in July 1889. He returned to West Point as an instructor in 1892, spending the next three years teaching engineering.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mason Patrick」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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