Jonathan O. Seaman

Jonathan Owen Seaman (* 11. December 1911 in Manila ; † 18th February 1986 in Charleston , South Carolina ) was an American officer and lieutenant general of the US Army , among others 1964-1966 commander of the 1st Infantry Division ( 1st Infantry Division ) , 1966-1967 commander of the II. field forces in Vietnam (II field Force, Vietnam) and, most recently 1967-1971 commanding General of the First US army ( First US army ) was.

Life

Officer training and World War II

Jonathan Owen Seaman, son of Brigadier General Albert Owen Seaman and his wife Florence Thompson Look Seaman, completed an officer training course at the US Military Academy at West Point . Once finished, he was in 1934 as a lieutenant (Second Lieutenant) of field artillery (Field Artillery) transferred to the US Army. He was initially an officer in the 16th field artillery regiment in Fort Myer, Virginia and then from December 1935 to 1938 military assistant in the White House . After he taught as an instructor at the US Military Academy in 1939, he was promoted to Captain (Captain) transported and the 4th Field Artillery Regiment of Fort Bragg drafted. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the entry of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941, he became major in command of a battalion of the 4th Field Artillery Regiment in 1942 and took part in combat operations during the Second World War European theater of war and participated in the Pacific War.

After the end of the war and other assignments, Seaman was commander of the 30th field artillery group between 1953 and 1954, which was stationed in the Yorkhof barracks in Hanau . As Major General (Major General) , he was in 1960, succeeding Major General John E. Theimer the 25th Infantry Division briefly commander ( 25th Infantry Division ) , the so-called "Tropic Lightning", but in 1960 this use of Major General James L. Richardson replaced. He was then transferred to the US Army Continental Command in September 1961 .

Vietnam War and promotion to lieutenant general

As commander of the II Field Force, Lieutenant General Seaman was jointly responsible for Operation Cedar Falls , the largest single-floor operation of the Vietnam War

In February 1964 he replaced Major General Arthur W. Obernbeck as commander of the 1st Infantry Division ( 1st Infantry Division ) , in Fort Riley stationed so-called "Big Red One", and had this leadership position until his replacement by Major General William E. DePuy in March 1966. The 1st Infantry Division was the first division to be relocated to South Vietnam in July 1965 for use in the Vietnam War . He was the first of six commanders of this division in the Vietnam War to take part in Operation Crimp in Củ Chi (January 8-14 , 1966) and Operation Mastiff in Bình Dương (February 21-25, 1966).

In March 1966, Lieutenant General (Lieutenant General) Jonathan O. Seaman first commander of the newly created II. Field forces in Vietnam (II Field Force, Vietnam) that are part of the high command of US forces in the Vietnam War MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) were . In addition to the 1st Infantry Division, other divisions and brigades belonged to this 100,000-strong military unit. Under his command, the II Field Force took part in Operation El Paso / El Paso II in Bình Long (May 19 to July 13, 1966) and in Operation Cedar Falls (January 8 to 26, 1967) in Bình Dương. The goal of this massive search-and-destroy operation was to clean up the so-called Iron Triangle (Tam Giác Sắt) , an area that the Viet Cong had turned into a stronghold and that was only twenty kilometers away from Saigon . Operation Cedar Falls was the largest single-bottom operation in the Vietnam War. For his services in previous years he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal on June 27, 1966 . In March 1967 he was replaced by Lieutenant General Bruce Palmer as commander of the II Field Force, Vietnam .

After his return to the US Lieutenant General Seaman broke in March 1967 Lieutenant General William F. Train as Commanding General of the First US Army ( First US Army ) in Fort George G. Meade , and held that post until his replacement by Lieutenant General Claire E. Hutchin, Jr. 1971. On June 22, 1967 and September 18, 1967, he was again awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, he received the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his services there . In this capacity, he was responsible for investigating the Mỹ Lai massacre , a war crime committed by the United States during the Vietnam War on March 16, 1968 in the Mỹ Lai part of the village of Sơn Mỹ, called My Lai 4 . The US Army initially covered up the massacre of 504  civilians . Only after research by the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh did the event come to the public, although the publication of the report had initially been rejected by all media for about a year. There was no criminal trial against the armed forces involved . In 1971 he retired from active military service after 37 years of service.

In 1999 the headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the 30th Field Artillery Regiment in Fort Sill in Seaman Hall was named in his honor. Jonathan Owen Seaman was married to Mary Grunert, whose father General George Grunert was also Commanding General of the First US Army between 1943 and 1944. After his death on February 18, 1986 in the Veterans Administration Hospital in Charleston , he was buried in the Beaufort National Cemetery.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

• Army Distinguished Service Medal (3 ×)
• Silver Star
• Legion of Merit
• Distinguished Flying Cross
• Bronze Star (2 x)

Web links

• LTG Jonathan Owen Seaman in Military Hall of Valor
• Jonathan O. Seaman in The Hall of Valor Project
• Jonathan O. Seaman in the database of Find a Grave (English)