Maj. Gen. Uzal Girard Ent Published Feb. 4, 2013 92nd Air Refueling Wing Historian FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Anyone who drives by the 92nd Civil Engineer and the 92d Contracting Squadron building will see a street sign labeled, "Ent Street" Those who are familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy might think this sign refers to the "ents," are a race of beings who closely resemble trees. Understandably, this makes sense since the word was taken from the Anglo-Saxon word "ent," meaning "giant," and would be appropriate, considering the giant feats those two squadrons accomplish on a daily basis. But actually, the street is named for Maj. Gen. Uzal Girard Ent. He was an Army Air Force officer who commanded the Ninth and Second Air Forces during World War II. Ent was born on March 3, 1900, in Northumberland, Penn. He served in the infantry from 1917 to 1919 and was eventually commissioned in the Air Service from West Point in 1924. His assignments included serving as a military attaché at the American Embassy in Lima, Peru, from July 1939 until October 1942. During that time, he acted as the senior neutral military observer during the boundary dispute with Ecuador. He was selected to be the commanding general, 9th Bomber Command, 9th Air Force from February to December 1943. During that time frame, he led 178 B-24 Liberators in Operation Tidal Wave - a bombing raid on the oil fields at Ploesti, Romania. Following that assignment he was appointed to be the chief of staff and then commanding general, 2nd Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo. In October 1944, Ent was seriously injured in the crash of a B-25 Mitchell on take-off. He was paralyzed from the waist down, but learned to walk again using braces. He retired in 1946 and passed away in Denver on March 5, 1948. ("From Heritage to Horizons" is a regular column in the "Fairchild Flyer" provided by Jim O'Connell, the 92nd Air Refueling Wing Historian)
