Officers of the US Army 1939-1945 -- G

US Army Officers
1939-1945

Dates: day-month-year, so 10.08.1909 is August 10, 1909. RA = Regular Army. AUS = Army of the United States (temporary rank).
Abbreviations and explanations can be found at the help page.
Abbreviations for the American States are:
AL, Alabama AK, Alaska AR, Arkansas AZ, Arizona CA, California CO, Colorado CT, Connecticut DE, Delaware DC, District of Columbia FL, Florida GA, Georgia HI, Hawaii IA, Iowa ID, Idaho IL, Illinois IN, Indiana KS, Kansas KY, Kentucky LA, Louisiana MA, Massachusetts MD, Maryland ME, Maine MI, Michigan MN, Minnesota MO, Missouri MS, Mississippi MT, Montana NC, North Carolina ND, North Dakota NE, Nebraska NH, New Hampshire NJ, New Jersey NM, New Mexico NY, New York NV, Nevada OH, Ohio OK, Oklahoma OR, Oregon PA, Pennsylvania RI, Rhode Island SC, South Carolina SD, South Dakota TN, Tennesee TX, Texas UT, Utah VA, Virginia VT, Vermont WA, Washington WI, Wisconsin WV, West Virginia WY, Wyoming

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

G

Gaffey,
Hugh Joseph
18.11.1895
Hartford, CT
-
16.06.1946
crash of a B-25 north of Godman Field at Fort Knox
[Fort Knox National Cemetery, KY]

2nd Lt.
15.08.1917 [O8435]

...
...

Brig.Gen.
05.08.1942

Maj.Gen.
28.04.1943

DSM
?
?

SSM
?
?

LM
?
?

Education: University of Pennsylvania

15.08.1917

commissioned in the field artillery

07.1940
-
?
Assistant to Plans and Training Officer, I Armored Corps

?
-
01.1942
Plans and Training Officer, I Armored Corps

1942
-
05.1943
with 2nd Armored Division

05.1943
-
04.1944
Commanding General, 2nd Armored Division (Africa; Sicily)

04.1944
-
12.1944
Chief of Staff, Third Army

03.12.1944
-
21.03.1945
Commanding General, 4th Armored Division [except for 21.02.1945-01.13.1945]

23.03.1945
-
09.1945
Commanding General, XXIII Corps

09.1945
-
16.06.1946
Commanding General, Armored School

Gavalas,
Leonidas George
"Lee"
L. Gavalas
Married 1st Viola Ann Gavalas (06.05.1910 - 30.07.1976); one son, one daughter.
Married 2nd Harriet Tsagaris Gavalas. 13.04.1912
NJ
-
25.10.1991
?
[Arlington National Cemetery]

2nd Lt. Res 01.06.1934 [O31569]

1st Lt. RA 13.07.1946, seniority 13.04.1940

Lt.Col. 01.12.1942,
01.07.1954

Col. AUS 29.03.1945,
29.06.1951

Brig.Gen. ?

Maj.Gen. ? (retd 01.09.1970)

DSM 18.06.1968 for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility, during the period from August 1963 to March 1968

LM ? ?

BSM ? & 2 OLC

CR ? ?

Education: Armed Forces Staff College; graduate Army War College (1956); Princeton University (1934; AB).

01.06.1934 commissioned in the Field Artillery Reserve

1943? - 1945? 1st Infantry Division (NW Europe):

(05.11.1943) - 11.02.1945 Adjutant General

27.08.1947 transferred, Adjutant General's Department

08.09.1952 - 1954 Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics and Administration of ... Command (NATO)

(1961) Adjutant General, HQ Seventh US Army (New York, NY)

1964 - 1968? Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, Continental Army Command (CONARC) and Recruiting Commander (Fort Monroe, VA) (DSM)

1968? - 1970 Chief of Staff, Fourth Army

Gavin,
James Maurice
"Jumping Jim" / "Slim Jim"

Born as James Nally Ryan, son of Irish immigrant Katherine Ryan and unknown father; orphaned. Adopted by Martin Thomas and Mary (Terrel) Gavin. Married 1st (05.09.1929) Irma Margaret "Peggy" Baulsir (divorced 1947); one daughter. Married 2nd (31.07.1948) Jean Emert Duncan; four daughters.
22.03.1907
Brooklyn, New York, NY
-
23.02.1990
Baltimore, MD
[West Point Cemetery, West Point, NY]

2nd Lt.
13.06.1929 [O17676]

1st Lt.
01.11.1934

Capt.
13.06.1939

Maj. (T)
10.10.1941 (accredited 18.10.1941)

Lt.Col. (T)
01.02.1942

Col. (T)
25.09.1942

Brig.Gen. (T)
10.10.1943?, seniority 22.09.1943

Maj.Gen. (T)
20.10.1944

Maj.
13.06.1946

Lt.Gen.
25.03.1955 (retd 31.03.1958)

DSC
?
2 x

DSM
?
?

SSM
?
2 x

BSM
?
?

PH
?
?

DSO; Grand Officer, Legion of Honor (France); Croix de Guerre with palm (France); Croix de Guerre with palm (Belgium); Grand Officer with swords, Order of Orange Nassau (Netherlands)

Education: US Military Academy, West Point (30.06.1925-13.06.1929; grad. # 8671); Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA (09.1932-05.1933); Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth (02.1942-?.1942)
Dropped out of school (1922) and worked at various jobs.

07.04.1924
-
30.06.1925
enlisted service (Private, Private 1st class, Corporal), Coast Artillery Corps: 16th & 2nd Coast Artillery Regiments

13.06.1929

commissioned in the infantry

12.09.1929
-
09.12.1929
Air Corps Primary Flying School (Brooks Field, TX)

12.1929
-
09.1932
25th Infantry Regiment (Camp Harry J. Jones, Douglas, AZ)

1933
-
1936
38th Infantry Regiment & 29th Infantry Regiment (Fort Sill, OK) [from 12.1933 Regimental Plans & Training Officer]

1936
-
10.1938
57th Infantry Regiment (Philippine Scouts) (Fort McKinley, Philippines)

10.1938
-
08.1940
7th Infantry Regiment (3rd Infantry Division) (Vancouver Barracks, WA; Fort Ord, CA) [eventually Commanding Officer, K Company]

08.1940
-
07.1941
instructor in tactics, US Military Academy, West Point

07.1941
-
08.1941
parachute training, Parachute School (Fort Benning, GA)

08.1941
-
10.1941
Commanding Officer, C Company, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Fort Benning, GA)

16.10.1941
-
06.07.1942
S-3 (Plans and Training Officer), Staff Provisional Parachute Group (Fort Bragg, NC)

06.07.1942
-
10.10.1943
Commanding Officer, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Fort Benning, GA; Camp Mackall, NC; Fort Bragg; North Africa; Sicily; Salerno)

10.10.1943
-
26.08.1944
Assistant Division Commander, 82nd Airborne Division (UK, Normandy)

11.1943
-
06.1944
also Senior Airborne Adviser, COSSAC (UK)

27.08.1944
-
14.03.1948
Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division (Holland, Ardennes, Germany) [youngest division commander in World War II]

07.1945
-
10.1945
also Senior Officer at the Kommandantura at Berlin

1948

Chief of Staff, 5th Army (Chicago)

1949
-
1951
Joint Chiefs of Staff (1950 observer, Korean War)

1951
-
1952
Chief of Staff, Allied Forces Southern Europe

1952
-
1954
Commanding General, VII Corps

1955
-
1955
Deputy Chief of Staff (Plans and Research), US Army

1955
-
1958
Chief Research and Development, US Army

Executive vice-president (1958-1960), President (1960-1961), Chairman of the Board (1964-1977), Director & adviser (1977-1979), Arthur D. Little Inc. (an industrial research and consulting firm). US Ambassador to France, 1961-1962. Director Amercian Electric Power Co. Inc. Director, John Honock Life Insurance Co.
Published: Airborne warfare (1947); War and peace in the soace age (1958); France and the Civil War in America (1962); Crisis now (1968); On to Berlin (1978; memoirs)
Literature: Bradley Biggs, Gavin (1980); T. Michael Booth & Duncan Spencer, Paratrooper : the life of Gen. James M. Gavin (1994)

Gerald,
John P.
J.P. Gerald (Photo courtesy of Mr Anthony N. Woloch)
From South Carolina.
?
-
17.10.1944
[Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery
Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, A.7.40]

2nd Lt.
? [O-023009]

...
...

Maj.
?

SSM
?
?

PH
?
?

30.08.1944
-
17.10.1944
Commanding Officer, 85th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 5th Armored Division (France)

Gerhardt,
Harrison Alan
H.A. Gerhardt
09.01.1909
NY
-
18.02.1980
Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, DC

2nd Lt.
10.06.1932 [O18697]

...
...

Maj.Gen.
? (retd 1967)

Education: US Military Academy, West Point (1932; grad. # 9367)

10.06.1932

commissioned in the infantry

1944
-
1946
Executive Officer, Office of the Assistant Secretary of War

09.1962
-
08.1964
Commanding General, South Eastern Task Force (Italy)

Gerow,
Leonard Townsend

13.07.1888
Petersburg, VA
-
12.10.1972
Petersburg, VA

2nd Lt.
1911 [O3151]

...
...

Lt.Col.
08.1935

Col.
09.1940

Brig.Gen. (T)
10.1940

Maj.Gen. (T)
02.1942

Lt.Gen. (T)
01.1945 (retd 31.07.1950)

Gen. (retd)
07.1954

DSM
?
3 x

SSM
?
?

LM
?
2 x

BSM
?
?

Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters; Silver Star; Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster; Bronze Star; British Companion Order of the Bath; Russian Order of Suvorov- 2d Class; French Legion of Honor - Commander; French Croix de Guerre with Palm; Order of the Crown of Luxembourg; Belgian Order of Leopold II, Grand Officer, with Palm; Belgian Croix de Guerre with Palm; Chilean Military Merit 1st Class; Peruvian Order of the Ayacucho- Grand Official; Brazil Order of Military Merit- Grand Official; Brazil Order of Aeronautical Merit-Grand Official.
Education: Virignia Military Institute (...-1911)

1911

commissioned in the infantry

1935
-
02.1942
War Plans Division, War Department General Staff (Washington, DC)

12.1940
-
02.1942
Chief of War Plans Division and (additional) from 12.1941 Assistant Chief of Staff

02.1942
-
07.1943
Commanding General, 29th Infantry Division (Fort George Meade, MD; UK)

15.07.1943
-
14.01.1945
Commanding General, V Corps (NW Europe) [except for 18.09.1944-04.10.1944]

16.01.1945
-
07.1945
Commanding General, Fifteenth Army (NW Europe)

07.1945
-
10.1945
President, Theater of Operations General Board

10.1945
-
01.1948
Commandant, Command and General Staff School (Fort Leavenworth, KS)

01.1948
-
07.1950
Commanding General, 2nd Army (Fort George Meade, MD)

Gibb,
Frederick William

Son of Frederick Innes and Jessie Anna (Leake) Gibb. 24.07.1908
New York, NY
-
06.09.1968
Andrews Air Force Base

2nd Lt.
1933 [O19222]

1st Lt.
13.06.1936

Capt.
?

Maj.
?

Lt.Col.
?

Brig.Gen.
16.03.1956

Maj.Gen.
1959 (retd 1961; disability)

LM
?
2 x

SSM
?
?

BSM
?
2 x

Education: US Military Academy, West Point (...-1933; grad. # 9852); Infantry School (1938)

1933
-
1942
various assignments with infantry units

(10.1939)

65th Infantry (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

1942
-
1943
Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry (1st Infantry Division) (North Africa)

05.11.1943
-
15.07.1944
Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3 (Operations and Plans), 1st Infantry Division (NW Europe)

15.07.1944
-
23.09.1945
Commanding Officer, 16th Infantry (1st Infantry Division) (NW Europe)

1946
-
1948
chairman attack committee, The Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA

1949

National War College

1949
-
1952
staff member advanced study group Department of the Army and Joint Staff, Joint Strategic Plans Group, Office Joint Chiefs of Staff

1952
-
1954
Deputy Chief of Staff G-3 (Plans & Operations) HQ Allied Land Forces, Southeastern Europe (Izmar, Turkey)

1960
-
1961
Commanding General, 2nd Division (Fort Benning)

Gillem Jr.,
Alvan Cullon

08.08.1888
Nashville, TN
-
13.02.1973
Atlanta, GA
[Arlington National Cemetery, VA]

2nd Lt.
11.02.1911 [O3030]

...
...

Brig.Gen.
01.1941

Maj.Gen.
12.07.1941

Lt.Gen.
06.1945 (retd 08.1950)

DSM
?
2 x

LM
?
?

BSM
?
?

Education: University of Arizona (1908), etc.

11.02.1911

commissioned in the infantry

1935
-
1940
Instructor, Infantry School

12.07.1941
-
01.1942
Commanding General, 3rd Armored Division

17.01.1942
-
08.1942?
Commanding General, II Armored Corps

08.1942
-
10.1942
Commander, Desert Training Center

14.05.1943
-
01.07.1943
Commanding General, Armored Force

02.07.1943
-
11.1943
Commanding General, Armored Command

02.12.1943
-
08.1945
Commanding General, XIII Corps (Europe)

08.1945
-
04.1946
Commanding General, VII Corps

10.1946
-
04.1947
American Commissioner Executive HQ, Peiping, China

19.06.1947
-
31.08.1950
Commanding General, Third Army

Greer,
Frank Upton

Son of William Alexander and Cecilia (Throckmorton) Greer. Married (26.12.1917) May Imogene Mann; two daughters, three sons. 24.09.1895
Washington, DC
-
17.05.1949
Gainesville, FL ?

1st Lt.
1917 [O8423]

Capt.
18.02.1926

Maj.
01.12.1935

...
...

Brig.Gen.
03.06.1943 (retd 31.08.1946)

SSM
?
Africa 43

SSM
?
France 44

BSM
?
France 44

PH
?
2 x

Legion of Honor (France; Croix de Guerre with palm (France)
Education: Catholic University (1915-1918); Infantry School (1921); George Washington University (LLB, 1925); Chemical Warfare School (1934); Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth (1934); Army War College (1936)

1917

commissioned in the infantry

1918

318th Infantry (AEF, France)

1926
-
1929
Canal Zone

1929
-

1932 instructor with the organized reserves in Pennsylvania

1938
-
1941
professor of military science & tactics, Rhode Island State College

1941
-
1943
18th Infantry Regiment:

01.07.1942
-
23.05.1943
Commanding Officer

1943
-
09.01.1945
Assistant Division Commander, 79th Infantry Division

1945

Bureau of Public Relations, War Department

Griswold,
Oscar Woolverton

22.10.1886
Ruby Valley, NV
-
28.09.1959
Colorado Springs, CO

2nd Lt.
15.06.1910

...
...

Brig.Gen.
10.1940

Maj.Gen.
08.1941

Lt.Gen.
14.04.1945 (retd 31.10.1947)

DSM
?
2 x

DSM
?
?

SSM
?
2 x

LM
?
?

BSM
?
?

AM
?
?

PH
?
?

Education: US Military Academy, West Point (...-15.06.1910; grad. # 4924)

15.06.1910

commissioned in the infantry

09.1939
-
10.1940
Commanding Officer, 29th Infantry Regiment

1940
-
1941
4th Infantry Division

1941
-
1941
Commanding General, Infantry Replacement Training Center, Camp Croft

08.1941
-
09.1941
Commanding General, 4th Mechanized Division

10.1941
-
04.1943
Commanding General, IV Corps

04.1943 -
09.1945
Commanding General, XIV Corps (Guadalcanal (1942-43), New Georgia (1943-44), and the Philippines (1944-45))

15.07.1943
-
1943 as such also: Commanding General New Georgia Occupation Force

01.11.1943
-
21.11.1944
as such also: US Military Commander, Papua New Guinea

15.03.1947
-
14.04.1947
Commanding General, Third Army

Gruenther,
Alfred Maximilian

Son of Christian and Mary Shea Gruenther.
03.03.1899
Platte Center, NE
-
30.05.1983
Washington, DC
[Arlington National Cemetery, VA]

2nd Lt.
01.11.1918 [12242]

...
...

Capt.
01.05.1935

...
...

Brig.Gen.
08.1942

Maj.Gen.
02.1943

Gen.
01.08.1951 (retd 31.12.1956; disability)

DSM
?
3 x

LM
?
?

BSM
?
?

Education: US Military Academy, West Point

01.11.1918

commissioned, Field Artillery

1939
-
1941
War Department General Staff

1941
-
1942
Deputy Chief of Staff, then Chief of Staff, Third Army

08.1942
-
01.1943
Deputy Chief of Staff, Allied HQ, London

1943
-
1944
Chief of Staff, Fifth Army

1944
-
1945
Chief of Staff, 15th Army Group

1951
-
1953
Chief of Staff, SHAPE

11.07.1953
-
31.05.1956
Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

President American Red Cross, 1957-1964.

Grunert,
George
21.07.1881
White Haven, PA
-
13.01.1971
San Antonio, TX

2nd Lt.
? [O1534]

...
...

Brig.Gen.
11.1936

Maj.Gen.
12.1939

Lt.Gen.
08.10.1943 (retd 31.07.1945)

DSM
?
2 x

LM
?
?

PH
?
?

Education: ?

1901

commissioned in the cavalry

1938
-
?
Commander, 26th Cavalry Regiment

?
-
1940
Commander, 23rd Brigade

05.1940
-
1942
Commanding General, Philippine Department & from 1942 VI Corps Area

05.1943
-
08.1943
Deputy Chief of Staff for Service Commands, Army Service Forces

08.10.1943
-
10.10.1943
Commanding General, First Army (Governors Island, NY)
[possibly already in 08.1943?]

10.1943
-
31.07.1945
Commanding General, Eastern Defense Command

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z