{{Infobox military person |name=Lyle E. Seeman |birth_date= {{birth date|1906|7|15|df=y}} |death_date= {{death date and age|1983|12|31|1906|7|15|df=y}} |birth_place=[[Baraboo, Wisconsin]], US |death_place=[[Arlington, Virginia]], US |burial_place=[[Arlington National Cemetery]] |burial_label= Place of burial |image=Lyle Seeman.jpg |caption=portrait of Seeman as a colonel, circa 1950 |nickname=Skip |allegiance= [[United States of America]] |branch=[[United States Army]] |service_years=1928–1965 |rank=[[File:US-O8 insignia.svg|30px]] [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] |service_number=O-17082 |commands= |battles={{tree list}} *[[World War I]] **[[China Burma India theater]] {{tree list/end}} |awards={{ubl|[[Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army)|Distinguished Service Medal]] | [[Legion of Merit]] (2) | [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]] }} |other_work= |alma_mater= [[United States Military Academy]]<br>[[Princeton University]]<br>[[National War College]] |module = {{Infobox college football player | embed = yes | college = Army Cadets | position = [[Guard (gridiron football)|Guard]] | highlights = }} }} {{use DMY dates|date=July 2025}}
'''Lyle Edward Seeman''' (15 July 1906–31 December 1983) was an American general who had a lengthy military career (1928–1965), working in various roles including as a [[military engineer]], an administrator, and a commander. A 1928 graduate of the [[United States Military Academy]], he played for [[Army Black Knights football|the school's football team]]. In the mid-1940s, he was involved with the [[Manhattan Project]], including as administrator and commander of [[Los Alamos Laboratory]] and as an assistant to [[Leslie Groves]]. Seeman finished his career as commander of [[Fort Leonard Wood]].
==Early life==
Seeman was born in [[Baraboo]], [[Wisconsin]], on 15 July 1906.<ref name="AHF1">{{cite web |title=Major Lyle Seeman |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Maj%20Gen.%20Lyle%20E.%20Seeman%20Military%20Bio.pdf |website=AHF.NuclearMuseum.org |access-date=30 July 2025}}</ref> He grew up in [[Janesville, Wisconsin]], graduating from [[School District of Janesville|Janesville High School]].<ref name="AHF2"/>
==Post-secondary education== [[File:Lyle Seeman, portrait circa 1928.jpg|x200px|thumb|portrait of Seeman from the 1928 West Point yearbook]]
Seeman attended a single year of college at the [[University of Wisconsin]], before being appointed a cadet at the [[United States Military Academy]] (West Point).<ref name="AHF2"/> After graduating from West Point in 1928, he was commissioned to the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]].<ref name="AHF1"/> He next obtained a graduate degree in 1934 from [[Princeton University]] in [[civil engineering]], and later graduated from the [[National War College]] in 1953.<ref name="AHF1"/>
==West Point college football and lacrosse career== [[File:Photograph and illustration of Lyle Seeman playing football for the Army Cadets team at West Point during the 1926 season.jpg|thumb|x200px|Photograph and illustration of Seeman playing for the [[1926 Army Cadets football team]]]] While at the United States Military Academy (USMA), Seeman played as a [[Guard (gridiron football)|guard]] for the [[Army Cadets football team]].<ref name="1926game"/> Seeman's nickname while at USMA was "Skip".<ref name="AHF2"/>
Seeman was the starting right guard in the [[1926 Army–Navy Game]],<ref name="1926game"/> a game which is considered the greatest [[Army–Navy Game]] and one of the greatest in the history of college football.<ref>{{cite web |title=Army vs. Navy: Greatest games in history that have helped shape this storied college football rivalry |url=https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/army-vs-navy-greatest-games-in-history-that-have-helped-shape-this-storied-college-football-rivalry |website=CBS Sports |access-date=31 July 2025 |language=en |date=6 December 2023}}</ref> Head Coach [[Biff Jones]] had made a heavily-scrutinized decision to start the game with a [[Offensive backfield|backfield]] starting roster featuring only second-string players.<ref name="Hopes1">{{cite web |title=Army-Navy Coaches Satisfied With Outcome of Game |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/48331607 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=The Scranton Republican |agency= The Associated Press |access-date=August 1, 2025 |page=14 |language=en |date=November 28, 1929}}</ref> His strategy was to use his second team to tire-out Navy's first-string starters, before subbing-in his own first-string players.<ref name="Army-Navy1">{{cite web |title=The Rivalry |url=https://armynavygame.com/the-rivalry |website=Army Navy Game |access-date=6 August 2025}}</ref> This meant that Army's starting lineup featured 7 string players, including the entirety of its backfield.<ref name="WoodfuffPlayByPlay">{{cite web |last1=Woodfuff |first1=Harvey |title=Play By Play Story Of 21–21 Service Combat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355211773 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=Chicago Tribune |language=en |date=November 28, 1926}}</ref> Thus, despite [[Louis A. Hammack]] being widely anticipated to be Army's starter in the position,<ref>Multiple sources *{{cite web |title=Probable Lineup |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411392989 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription|publisher=Daily News (New York) |access-date=August 1, 2025 |page=22 |language=en |date=November 27, 1926}} *{{cite web |title=Army-Navy Clash In Chicago Today |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/545241602 |agency=The Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=The North Adams Transcript |access-date=August 1, 2025 |page=1 |language=en |date=Nov 27, 1926}} *{{cite web |title=Probable Lineup |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/411392989 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription|publisher=Daily News (New York) |access-date=August 1, 2025 |page=22 |language=en |date=November 27, 1926}}</ref> Seeman was instead started. Later into the game, Hammack was substituted-in for him.<ref name="1926game">{{cite web |title=Army-Navy Line-Ups |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/604274922 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |publisher=Chattanooga Daily Times |agency= The Associated Press |access-date=30 July 2025 |page=14 |language=en |date=28 November 1926}}</ref>
In addition to football, Seeman was also a member of [[Army Black Knights men's lacrosse|the lacrosse team]]. He rose to the captaincy of the team.<ref>{{cite web |title=2021 Army West Point Men's Lacrosse |url=https://goarmywestpoint.com/documents/download/2011/8/4/2011FBGuideYBY.pdf |website=goarmywestpoint.com |access-date=April 24, 2026 |date=2021}}</ref>
==Military career== ===Pre-war=== Upon graduation from West Point in 1928, Seeman was appointed to the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He was first assigned cavalry duty at [[Fort Riley]] in [[Kansas]], and was promoted to a first lieutenant on 1 December 1933. He next worked with the [[Nicaragua Canal Survey]] from 1935 to 1936, and from 1936 to 1940 he was assigned to [[ROTC]] work at [[Ohio State University]]. While working at Ohio State University, he was promoted to captain on 9 June 1938. He was promoted to major on 31 January 1941.<ref name="AHF1"/>
===World War II and Manhattan Project=== During [[World War II]], Seeman was assigned to the [[Engineer Research and Development Laboratory]] at [[Fort Belvoir]] in [[Virginia]], working as a regimental commander of the aviation engineer troops. Later in the war, he was assigned as Air Force staff in [[China Burma India theater]]. During the war he was promoted in rank. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 February 1942 and to colonel on 21 May 1943.<ref name="AHF1"/>
[[File:Lyle E. Seeman portrait 1.jpg|thumb|military portrait of Seeman|x150px]]
From 1945 to 1946, Seeman was assigned to the [[Manhattan Engineer District]].<ref name="AHF1"/> On 3 May 1945, Major General [[Leslie R. Groves]] appointed Seeman to serve as his Army Corps of Engineers liaison at the [[Los Alamos Laboratory]] in [[New Mexico]]. As Groves' liaison, he contributed to managing efficiency at the laboratory in preparation for the [[Trinity test]] and for weapons manufacturing. On 7 August 1945, [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]] appointed him administrator of the laboratory.<ref name="AHF2">{{cite web |title=Lyle E. Seeman |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/lyle-e-seeman/ |website=AHF.NuclearMuseum.org |access-date=30 July 2025}}</ref>
[[File:Bradbury Groves Jette etc. 681002.jpg|thumb|Lyle (back row, second from left) joins other officials in April 1947 in reviewing a map related to facility construction at [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]]]] During the planning for the cancelled [[Operation Downfall]] operation, Seeman reported (in response to a query about the possibility of using [[tactical nuclear weapon]]s on the Japanese mainland if Japan did not surrender after the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]) that at least seven [[Fat Man]]-type plutonium implosion bombs would be available by X-Day, which could be dropped on Japan's defending forces. Seeman advised that American troops not enter an area hit by a bomb for "at least 48 hours". The risk of [[nuclear fallout]] was not well understood at the time, and this short time after detonation would have in actuality exposed American troops to substantial levels of radiation.<ref>{{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B. | author-link = Richard B. Frank | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | publisher = Random House | location = New York | isbn = 978-0-679-41424-7 |pages=312–313}}</ref>
In September 1945, Seeman was made officer in charge for improvements and contstruction at [[Sandia Base]]. On October 31, 1945, he was appointed the Associate Director under [[Norris Bradbury]] (the Los Alamos Lab Director), and was made an Area Engineer responsible for the Sandia Z Division's Group Z-2 weapons assembly factory. He worked in this assignment until March 1946.<ref name="AHF2"/> In November 1945, he was made post commander at Los Alamos, a role he held until approximately September 1946.<ref>{{cite book |author=Manhattan District |title=Manhattan District History, Book VIII, Volume 1 – Los Alamos Project – General | pages= 7.1–7.2 |publisher=Manhattan District |url=http://www.osti.gov/includes/opennet/includes/MED_scans/Book%20VIII%20-%20%20Volume%201%20-%20Los%20Alamos%20Project%20(Y)%20-%20General.pdf |access-date=7 March 2017 |year=1947 |location=Washington, D.C. |archive-date=12 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170212105339/http://www.osti.gov/includes/opennet/includes/MED_scans/Book%20VIII%20-%20%20Volume%201%20-%20Los%20Alamos%20Project%20(Y)%20-%20General.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> That same year, he also began working again as an aide to Groves. He witnessed the [[Operation Crossroads]] tests in the [[Bikini Atoll]], and reported back to Groves with observations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Colonel L. E. Seeman to Major General R. L. Groves, "Report of Observations at Crossroads", 12 July 1946, Secret. {{!}} National Security Archive |url=https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/21891-document-16-colonel-l-e-seeman-major-general |website=National Security Archive (George Washington University) |access-date=30 July 2025 |date=1946}}</ref> He was designated by Groves as his representative to the [[National Park Service]] for meetings on the establishment of a monument at the site of the Trinity test.<ref>{{cite web |title=White Sands NM: An Administrative History (Chapter 5) |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/whsa/adhi/adhi5k.htm |website=NPS.gov |access-date=30 July 2025}}</ref>
===Post-war=== From 1947 to 1948, Seeman was assigned to worked with the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA).<ref name="AHF1"/> Between 1949 and 1952, he was the district engineer of the Army Corps of Engineers for the Alaska District. He oversaw the largest program of permanent construction that had ever been undertaken in Alaska up to that time.<ref name="AHF1"/> After graduating from the National War College,<ref name="AHF2"/> Seeman was assigned to the Office of the Comptroller of the Army from 1953–54.<ref name="AHF1"/>
On September 1, 1954, Seeman was appointed division engineer for the Southwestern Division of the Army Corps' Southwestern Division, headquartered in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name="AHF1"/> He held this assignment until 1958.<ref>{{cite web |title=Southwestern Division History |url=https://www.swd.usace.army.mil/About/History/ |website=www.swd.usace.army.mil (US Army Corps of Engineers Southwestern Division Website) |access-date=July 30, 2025}}</ref> During this assignment, he additionally served as a member of the [[Mississippi River Commission]] and the [[Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors]]. He was promoted to brigadier general on July 14, 1955.<ref name="AHF1"/>
On 1 May 1958, Seeman was assigned to work as the chief of the construction division within the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics.<ref name="AHF1"/> On 1 August 1958, he was designated Director of Installations, a role he held until May 1962. While in this role, he was promoted to major general on March 10, 1959.<ref name="AHF1"/>
[[File:Gen. Lyle E. Seeman (portrait, circa early 1960s).jpg|thumb|portrait of Seeman as Commanding General of [[Fort Leonard Wood]] (1960s)]]
Seeman assumed the position of commander of [[Fort Leonard Wood]] in [[Missouri]] on May 20, 1962.<ref name="AHF1"/> He retired from the military on 30 May 1965.<ref name="AHF2"/>
==Personal life and death== Seeman married Marjorie Roberta Korp in 1929.<ref name="AHF2"/> Together, the Seemans had three children,<ref name="AHF1"/> daughters Diane (born 1936 in Nicaragua), Nancy (born in 1938 in [[Ohio]]), and Charlotte (born in 1943 in [[Tennessee]]).<ref name="AHF2"/>
Seeman died on 31 December 1983 at the age of 77<ref name="AHF2"/> in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]], [[Virginia]]. He was interred at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref name="AHF2"/>
==Military decorations== *[[Legion of Merit]] award for service during World War II (awarded on 2 October 1945)<ref name="Hall of Valor">{{cite web |title=Lyle Seeman |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-111998/ |website=Hall of Valor: Medal of Honor, Silver Star, U.S. Military Awards |access-date=July 30, 2025}}</ref> *Legion of Merit award with Oak Leaf Cluster for service during peacetime<ref name="Hall of Valor"/> *[[Bronze Star Medal]]<ref name="AHF1"/> *[[Army Distinguished Service Medal]] for service during the [[Cold War]] (awarded on 27 October 1965)<ref name="Hall of Valor"/>
==Society memberships== Seeman was a member of the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]] and the [[Society of American Military Engineers]].<ref name="AHF1"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seeman, Lyle}} [[Category:People from Janesville, Wisconsin]] [[Category:People from Baraboo, Wisconsin]] [[Category:American football people from Wisconsin]] [[Category:1906 births]] [[Category:1983 deaths]] [[Category:Manhattan Project people]] [[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]] [[Category:Army Black Knights football players]] [[Category:United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel]] [[Category:Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel]] [[Category:People of the Central Intelligence Agency]] [[Category:American football guards]] [[Category:20th-century American people]] [[Category:Army Black Knights men's lacrosse players]]