Willis D. Crittenberger

General Willis D. Crittenberger

Willis Dale "Critt" Crittenberger (born December 2, 1890 in Baltimore , Maryland , † August 4, 1980 in Chevy Chase , Maryland) was an American Lieutenant General in the US Army , who was among other things between 1950 and 1952 Commanding General of the First US -Army ( First US Army ) was.

Life

Officer training, World War I and the interwar period

Willis Dale "Critt" Crittenberger grew up in Anderson and trained as an officer at the US Military Academy in West Point and went after its completion in 1913 as a lieutenant in the cavalry of the US Army one. In August 1913 he was transferred to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment ( 3rd Cavalry Regiment ) in Fort Hood and took part in the First World War. In the following years he found numerous uses as an officer and was a graduate of the US Army Cavalry School at Fort Riley in 1924 and the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth in 1925 . After further employment as an officer and staff officer, he attended the US Army War College in the Washington Barracks in 1930 . In 1934, he was by Fort Knox laid, the new headquarters of the 1st Mechanized Cavalry Regiment (1st (Mechanized) Cavalry Regiment) , and was between 31 March and 30 June 1935 Commander ( Commanding Officer ) of this regiment.

Subsequently, Crittenberger was between July 1, 1935 and May 29, 1938 in personal union both personnel and training officer of the 7th Cavalry Regiment ( 7th Cavalry Regiment ) and the site command of Fort Knox and received his assignment on August 1, 1935 Promotion to lieutenant colonel . After a use from 1 May 1938 to 19 July 1940 at the office of the Chief of Cavalry, Major General John Knowles Lord , he was between 20 July 1940 and 1 August 1941 Chief of Staff of the 1st Armored Division ( 1st Armored Division ) , the so-called "Old Ironsides", and was promoted to colonel on June 17, 1941 and, less than a month later, to brigadier general on July 10, 1941 .

Second World War

Major General Crittenberger with the Chief of Staff of the Army , General George C. Marshall , on a troop visit to Fort Benning (June 1942)

After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the entry of the United States into World War II on the following December 8, 1941 Brigadier General "Critt" Crittenberger was first commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Armored Division ( 2nd Armored Division ) and sparked in February 1942, major General George S. Patton as commander of the "Hell on Wheels" mentioned 2nd armored Division from after Patton commanding general of in North Africa I. Panzer Corps used ( I armored Corps ) was. Shortly afterwards, on February 16, 1942, he was also promoted to major general. He was in command of the 2nd Panzer Division until July 30, 1942 and then acted between August 1, 1942 and October 10, 1943 as the commanding general of the III stationed at Fort Polk . Panzer Corps ( III Armored Corps ) , which results from the 7th Armored Division ( 7th Armored Division ) 11th Panzer Division mentioned, the so-called "Lucky Seven", and the "Thunderbolt" ( 11th Armored Division ) composed.

In 1943, Crittenberger was selected by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, alongside Leonard T. "Gee" Gerow and Roscoe B. Woodruff, as one of the three corps commanders originally assigned to conduct Operation Overlord , the Allied landings in Normandy . On October 10, 1943 he was commanding general of the III. Panzer Corps XIX. US Corps ( XIX Corps ) and with this moved to England on January 7, 1944 . Crittenberger, Gerow, and Woodruff were recognized officers whom Eisenhower trusted. However, General Omar N. Bradley , selected by General Eisenhower as the American commander for Operation Neptune on D-Day on June 4, 1944, changed Eisenhower's selection as he sought different temperaments and commanders with greater combat experience. At that time sought the commander of US ground forces in Europe and the Mediterranean Theater of Operations , General Jacob L. Devers , a commanding general for the Italian campaign provided IV. US Corps ( IV Corps ) . On February 28, 1944 he was appointed the commanding general of this corps and was initially in reserve at the beginning of the Italian campaign, before he was transferred to the front after the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944 and there the VI. US Corps ( VI Corps ) replaced. In the period that followed, the IV. US Corps was in action for 390 days, of which 326 days were in continuous combat. Crittenberger commanded the corps as the western arm of the Allied advances in northern Italy to the Po , which only ended on May 2, 1945 after the German Wehrmacht had given up in Italy. For his services during this time, he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal in 1944 and 1945 .

Post war and chairman of Radio Free Europe

After the end of the war, Crittenberger, who was promoted to lieutenant general on June 3, 1945 , was the commanding general of the Caribbean Defense Command between August 31, 1945 and June 30, 1947, as well as the commander of the US armed forces in the Panama canal zone (Panama canal Department) . On 1 July 1947 he was the first commander in chief of the US Caribbean Command (US Caribbean Command) , a unified regional command and forerunner of today's US military Southern Command ( US Southern Command ) . He held this post until June 30, 1948 and at the same time acted in personal union from July 1 to December 15, 1947 as commanding general of the US land forces in the Caribbean (US Army Caribbean) . He then took over the army in the Inter-American Defense Command from 1 July 1948 to 31 May 1949 first representatives (Inter-American Defense Command) and also between July 1, 1948, 1952, representatives of the Army of the Military Staff Committee United Nations and in addition, from June 1, 1949 to 1952, chairman of the US delegation to this UN Military Staff Committee.

Last Lieutenant General Willis D. Crittenberger in 1950 successor to Lieutenant General on 1 November Walter Bedell Smith as commanding general of the First US Army ( First US Army ) . He held this post of commander until his retirement on December 31, 1952, whereupon Lieutenant General Withers A. Burress succeeded him. At the same time, Crittenberger was site commander of Fort Jay on Governors Island in Upper New York Bay between 1951 and 1952 .

After retiring from active service, he was an advisor to the current US President Dwight D. Eisenhower on national security issues and from 1955 to 1958 President of the Alumni Association of the US Military Academy Association . He also served as chairman of the Radio Free Europe committee from October 1, 1956 to 1959, and defended this broadcaster after it was accused of sparking the popular uprising in Hungary . On October 12, 1956, he said:

"The policy of Free Europe is NOT to inflame Eastern Europeans ... [but] to base our broadcasts on factual reporting of the news WITHOUT any exaggeration, prediction, or promises. If there has been any violation of this policy, we are unaware of it. "

“Free Europa's policy is NOT to ignite Eastern Europeans ... [but] our broadcasts are based on factual reporting without exaggeration, prediction or promise. If there is a violation of this policy, we are not aware of it. "

Others argued that some of the programs were incendiary and written by Hungarian émigrés, and that they may have led Soviet leaders to doubt the leadership qualities of Hungarian leader Imre Nagy , fear the power vacuum in Hungary, and come to the conclusion, that a second military invasion was necessary.

Marriage and offspring

Willis Dale "Critt" Crittenberger married Josephine Frost Woodhull on June 23, 1918 and was married to Josephine Frost Woodhull for 60 years until her death in 1978. This marriage resulted in three sons, two of whom died as members of the US Army in the war.

Corporal Townsend Woodhull Crittenberger was killed while crossing the Rhine on March 25, 1945 shortly before the end of the war. Colonel Dale Jackson Crittenberger was 1950 graduate of the US Military Academy, 1959 as a Major Military aide to US President Eisenhower and came on Sept. 17, 1969 during the Vietnam War as a commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 9th Infantry Division ( 9th Infantry Division ) in a Fatal collision in the air during a combat mission. A third son, Willis D. Crittenberger, Jr., graduated from the US Military Academy in 1942 and was promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel within the three years of the war and retired as major general from active military service. He was spokesman for the Daughters of the American Revolution patriotic association .

After his death on August 4, 1980, Crittenberger was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Awards

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

• Army Distinguished Service Medal (2 ×)

Web links

• Entry in Generals of WWII
• Entry into Military Hall of Honor
• Entry in The Hall of Valor Project
• D. Willis Crittenberger in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Entry on the homepage of Arlington National Cemetery

Individual evidence

1. ^ Former US Army South Commanding Generals
2. ↑ Major General Roscoe B. Woodruff was acting Commanding General of the First US Army until November 1, 1950.