Officers of the War Plans Branch, War Plans Division, General Staff, standing outside the entrance of the Army War College at Washington, D.C., May 1918. Lieutenant Colonel Ben Lear is stood in the second row, second from the left, between Major G. P. Robinson (left) and Major W. W. McCammon (right).
Ben Lear was born in Hamilton, Ontario, on May 12, 1879. His military service began in 1898, when he enlisted with the 1st Colorado Infantry, USV, for the Spanish–American War as a first sergeant. He was promoted to second lieutenant during the Philippine–American War in the 1st Colorado and later in the 36th Infantry, USV, then joined the regular army as a sergeant at the end of the war. He subsequently served in World War I.
Lear was promoted to lieutenant general in October 1940 and was commanding general of U.S. Second Army from October 20, 1940 to April 25, 1943. As such, he was responsible for training a large number of U.S. soldiers during World War II. He became known as a strict disciplinarian.
It was in the lead-up to these maneuvers that Lear acquired the nickname "Yoo-Hoo". Lear was playing golf at the country club in Memphis, Tennessee, in civilian clothes on July 6, 1941, when a convoy of 80 U.S. Army trucks carrying men of the 110th Quartermaster Regiment, 35th Division rolled past. The troops in the passing trucks subjected a group of women in shorts to a series of whistles and "lewd and obscene" catcalls.
Lear had the convoy stopped, and told the officers that this conduct was unacceptable and they had disgraced the Army. Lear's punishment was to make every one of the 350 men in the convoy march 15 miles (24 km) of the 45-mile (72 km) trip back to Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas in three 5-mile sections. This they did in the 97 °F (36 °C) heat. Many men straggled and a number collapsed. There was storm of public criticism of Lear's action from people who felt that the soldiers had been harshly and collectively punished when many had done nothing wrong. The commander of the 35th Division, Major GeneralRalph E. Truman, was well-connected politically, his cousin being Senator Harry S. Truman, and some congressmen called for Lear to be retired. However, to Army eyes this was not a case of sexual harassment but of indiscipline, and no action was taken against Lear.[3] The derogatory nickname "Yoo-Hoo" stuck.
Lear continued in command of Second Army until he was relieved by Lieutenant General Lloyd Fredendall in April 1943.
Retirement and recall to active duty
Lear on a visit to Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, Arizona, 1944.
Lear was administratively retired in May 1943, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 64, but was immediately recalled to active duty to serve on the Personnel Board of the Secretary of War, and retained his ranks as a lieutenant general. He became Commanding General of Army Ground Forces on 14 July 1944, shortly before Lieutenant GeneralLesley J. McNair, his predecessor, was killed in Normandy on 25 July 1944.
After the German counter-attack in the Ardennes caused a manpower crisis, in January 1945 he was appointed deputy commander of European Theater of Operations, US Army, responsible for theater manpower. As such, he overhauled the replacement system, but the war against Germany ended before the full benefits of his reforms could be realized.
Retirement
Lear fully retired from the army in July 1945 and was promoted to general on 19 July 1954, by special act of Congress (Public Law 83-508). He settled in Memphis, Tennessee after retirement.[5]