{{short description|Career officer in the United States Air Force}} {{Infobox military person |name= Henry Edward Warden |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= "Pete" |birth_date= {{birth date|mf=yes|1915|12|26}} |birth_place= McKinney, Texas, U.S. |death_date= {{death date and age|2007|11|15|1915|12|26|mf=y}} |death_place= Columbus, Mississippi, U.S. |burial_place= Friendship Cemetery |allegiance= United States of America |branch= United States Army Air Forces<br />United States Air Force |service_years= 1939–1964 |rank= Colonel<ref name="Olsen"/> |service_number= |unit= |commands= |battles= World War II |awards= Distinguished Flying Cross <br/>Legion of Merit<br/>Air Medal<br/> Distinguished Unit Citation with three Oak Leaf Clusters<ref name="Obit"/> |relations= John A. Warden III |other_work= North American Aviation<ref name="B52"/> }}
'''Henry Edward "Pete" Warden''' (December 26, 1915 – November 15, 2007) was a colonel in the United States Air Force. He served almost four years in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Although he was trained as a fighter aircraft pilot, he possessed an innate ability to assemble, modify, and repair aircraft. After the war, he was assigned to positions in aircraft development that led to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress; he is often credited as the "Father of the B-52".<ref name="B52">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/8-december-1945/|title=8 December 1945|last=Swopes|first=Bryan|date=2018-12-08|website=This Day in Aviation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref>
==Early life== Henry Edward Warden was born in McKinney, Texas on December 26, 1915. He was the son of US Army Brigadier General John A. Warden and Jane Abernathy Warden.<ref name="Obit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/clarionledger/obituary.aspx?pid=98154864|title=Henry Edward "Pete" Warden (Obituary)|date=November 18, 2007|work=Clarion Ledger|access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref> He studied architecture for two years at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College and received a degree in aeronautical engineering from Catholic University in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Obit"/> By 1939, Warden had completed the requirements for an MS degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), absent his dissertation.<ref name="Obit"/> But, when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Warden left MIT to join the United States Army Air Corps.<ref name="Olsen">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnDoy6DNQYkC&q=Col+Henry+Edward+%E2%80%9CPete%E2%80%9D+Warden&pg=PT32|title=John Warden and the Renaissance of American Air Power|last=Olsen|first=John Andreas|date=2011|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=9781597973236|language=en}}</ref>
==Military career== In November 1939, Warden enlisted in the Army Air Corps with the rank of lieutenant.<ref name="Obit"/> By 1940, Warden had earned his wings piloting the Curtiss P-36 and Curtiss P-40 fighter aircraft at Hamilton Army Airfield in California.<ref name="Obit"/>
As part of the 20th Pursuit Squadron, Warden was deployed to Nichols Field in the Philippines in 1940, serving as depot inspector and P-40 pilot.<ref name="Olsen"/> In December 1941, when the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Warden and his team were able to salvage 8 aircraft, and he piloted the last aircraft out of Manila just after Japanese forces entered the city.<ref name="Olsen"/>
Warden was then sent to the island of Mindanao where he and his team of enlisted men were to find and assemble more aircraft that were still packed in crates. In May 1942, resistance by US troops ended in the Philippines, and Warden deployed to the 5th Air Service Command in Australia. There, Warden was again tasked with assembling, repairing, and modifying aircraft to keep them flying.<ref name="Olsen"/>
In June 1944, after serving almost four years in the Pacific Theater, Warden was reassigned to Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio.<ref name="Olsen"/> At Wright Field, Warden was promoted to lieutenant colonel<ref name="Obit"/> and became chief of the Engineering Division, Bombardment Branch in May 1945.<ref name="Olsen"/> In that position, Warden had responsibility over the Northrop XB-35, Convair XB-36, Douglas XB-42, and the Boeing XB-52 programs.<ref name="Obit"/>
By 1945, there was a serious debate regarding the development of the next generation of long-range strategic Air Force bombers – propeller-driven engines versus turbojet engines – with emphasis on size of the bomber, cost, and effective flight range.<ref name="Olsen"/> Warden became an advocate for a turbojet heavy bomber and was designated the project officer when Boeing was awarded the contract to build the experimental aircraft with turboprop engines. On October 21, 1948, "acting on his own authority",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2001/December%202001/1201buff.pdf|title=Fifty Years of the B-52|last=Boyne|first=Walter J.|date=December 2001|website=AIR FORCE Magazine|access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref> Warden directed Boeing to redesign the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress with jet engines.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/b52-strat/b52_50th/design.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129182425/http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/b52-strat/b52_50th/design.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2009-01-29|title=Boeing: News Feature - B-52 50th Anniversary - B-52 Design|date=2009-01-29|access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref> With that decision, Warden became "one of the founding fathers of the B-52".<ref name="Olsen"/>
===Later military assignments=== *In 1953, after achieving the rank of colonel, Warden was put in charge of long-range planning in the Pentagon's Air Warfare Systems Division because of his technological expertise.<ref name="Olsen"/> *In 1957, Warden became deputy commander for tests at the Air Force Missile Test Center, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.<ref name="Olsen"/> *In 1960, Warden was assigned a central role in restructuring the predecessor to the Air Force Systems Command.<ref name="Olsen"/>
==Later years== In 1964, Warden retired from the Air Force. For the next 6 years, he served as corporate director of plans for North American Aviation.<ref name="Olsen"/> In 1970, Warden moved to Columbus, Mississippi, with his wife and three children. In Columbus, he managed his {{convert|550|acres|ha|adj=on}} farm and initiated the Warden-Carden School that ministered to the youth of Columbus for more than 20 years.<ref name="Obit"/> Colonel Warden died on November 15, 2007, and was interred in Friendship Cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi.<ref name="Obit"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave |23243428 |Col Henry Edward "Pete" Warden |accessdate=2019-08-29}}
*[https://www.mindat.org/feature-4450253.html Warden-Carden School (Lowndes County, Mississippi)]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warden, Henry Edward}} Category:1915 births Category:2007 deaths Category:United States Air Force colonels Category:United States Army Air Forces officers Category:United States Army Air Forces pilots of World War II Category:People from McKinney, Texas Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Catholic University of America alumni Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Category:Military personnel from Texas Category:Burials at Friendship Cemetery