United States Air Force General. He was the four-star United States Air Force general who directed the Air Force combat operations during the Vietnam War and in 1973 named the Chief of the North American Air Defense Command and the United States Air Aerospace Defense Command. He was responsible for the air defense of the North American continent. He retired two years later, ending a 37-year career that featured some of the highest positions and honors afforded by the military. Following in his family's dedicated footsteps, his grandfather was Senator Alexander Stephens Clay of Georgia, and his father was General Lucius D. Clay Sr, who served post-World War II as Commander the American forces in Europe, served as the military governor of the American of occupied Germany, and was a force behind the 1948 to 1949 Berlin airlift and the rebuilding of West Germany. Clay, Jr., like his father, attended West Point graduating in 1942, which followed by flight training and earning his pilot's wings the same year [Lubbock Field, Texas, in December 1942]. Deployed to England, he commanded a bomber squadron and flew combat missions against the Nazis Army during World War II. After the war, he became the deputy commander and deputy for the base services with the European Air Depot. In February 1947, he returned to the United States with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel transferring to the new military branch of the US Air Force. He served in several positions at the Pentagon, attended the Air War College and Air University, and held posts that included Chief of Plans Division for the Strategic Air Command and Commander of the 12th Air Force, Tactical Air Command in Waco Texas. He reached the rank of Major General in 1966 and becoming the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations Air Strikes in 1969 during the Vietnam War. In February 1970, he was named Vice-Commander in Chief of the Pacific Air Forces, assuming the command of the Seventh Air Force, which was based in South Vietnam, and overseeing air strikes throughout mainland Southeast Asia. In September 1970, he became a four-star general, and in August 1971, he was named Commander in Chief of the Pacific Air Forces. He was the recipient of more twenty decorations and service awards during his long military career. He received the Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Air Medal with 10 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Croix de Guerre Avec Etoile de Vermeil (France) with Gold Star; Vietnam Service Medal, National Order of Vietnam, Third Class; Republic of Vietnam Air Force Distinguished Service Order, First Class; Korea National Security Medal, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry and Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal. He is a command pilot. He retired to a military retirement community in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He died of cardiac arrest and COPD.