This is a list of United States Armed Forces general officers and flag officers who were killed in World War II. The dates of death listed are from the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 to the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, when the United States was officially involved in World War II. Included are generals and admirals who were killed by friendly or hostile fire, suicide, or accidents (usually airplane crashes). General and flag officers who died of illness or natural causes are not included. The rank listed was at the time of their death.
In 1954, the United States Congress passed Public Law 83-508, which promoted lieutenant generals who had commanded an army or Army Ground Forces during World War II to the rank of general. When it took effect on 19 July 1954, Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. and Lesley J. McNair were posthumously promoted.[3] One officer was posthumously promoted to general officer rank during the war: Colonel William O. Darby, whose nomination for promotion to the rank of brigadier general had already been approved by Congress and submitted to President Harry S. Truman for approval at the time of his death.[4][5] On the other hand, Douglas B. Netherwood was promoted to brigadier general in October 1940, but reverted to the rank of colonel on 25 December 1941. He died in an air crash on 19 August 1943.
Lieutenant generals
Major generals
Rear admirals
Brigadier generals
Commodores
Colonels
Brigadier generals of the Philippine Army
The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a U.S. territory during World War II, and Filipinos were United States nationals.[61] The Philippine Army was created in 1935 to prepare the Philippines to become independent in 1946 with its own independent military. Many U.S. military officers became officers in the new Philippine Army, the most famous amongst them being Field Marshal of the Philippine Army Douglas MacArthur. Because the Philippines was a part of the United States and the Philippine Army was, on President Franklin D. Roosevelt's orders, part of the United States Army Forces in the Far East and later part of the U.S. military in the South West Pacific Area, four Philippine Army general officers (all of whom held the rank of brigadier general) who were killed during World War II are listed here. Two Filipino graduates of West Point, Vicente Lim and Fidel Segundo, were killed in action during World War II while serving as generals for the Philippines and the United States. All served in the United States Army during their careers before being promoted to brigadier general in the Philippine Army.[4]
Notes
- ^ "Public Law 83-508". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cagley, Thomas R. (26 January 2019). "A List of American Commanders in WWII Who Lost Their Lives". Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Bush, Robert S. (7 August 2014). "General and Flag Officers Killed in War". War on the Rocks. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Henry Maston Mullinnix". Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Charles Henry Barth Jr". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "General Charles H. Barth". The New York Times. 6 May 1943. p. 12. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Asa North Duncan > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Harold H. George > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Davis Dunbar Graves > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Kenneth Newton Walker > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ Sullivan, Brian (4 July 2011). "Day 185: Gen. Nelson M. Walker | Archives". Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "General, 4 of Staff Die in Plane Crash; Carlyle H. Wash, Chief at Air Field in Colorado, is Among 10 Victims in Alabama". The New York Times. 27 January 1943. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Carlyle Hilton Wash > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Commodore James Alexander Logan". Magherafelt District War Dead. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ "VMH: James A. Logan, Como, USN". usnamemorialhall.org. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ "Brigadier General Douglas Blakeshaw Netherwood > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Non-Citizen U.S. Nationality in the Philippines After April 11, 1899 but before July 4, 1946". US Department of State. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
References
- Ancell, R. Manning; Miller, Christine (1996). The Biographical Dictionary of World War II Generals and Flag Officers: The US Armed Forces. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-29546-8. OCLC 33862161.
- Blumenson, Martin (1961). Breakout and Pursuit. United States Army in World War II: The European Theter of Operations. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History. OCLC 5594822.
- Brown, Russel K. (1988). Fallen in Battle: American General Officer Combat Fatalities from 1775. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26242-5. OCLC 230972417.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot (1957). The Invasion of France and Germany, 1944-1945. Vol. XI. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. OCLC 415492208.
- Morton, Louis (1953). The Fall Of The Philippines (PDF). United States Army in World War II: The War in the Pacific. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Rems, Alan (2014). South Pacific Cauldron. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-61251-470-3. OCLC 859385321.