List of U.S. general officers and flag officers killed in World War II

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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.[1][2][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.[6]

Lieutenant generals[edit]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
Frank Maxwell Andrews United States Army Air Forces 3 May 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Mount Fagradalsfjall, Iceland Commanding General, European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) [4][5][7]
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. United States Army 18 June 1945 Hostile fire (artillery) Okinawa, Japan Commanding General, Tenth United States Army

Posthumously promoted to general in 1954

[4][5][1]
Millard Harmon United States Army Air Forces 26 February 1945 Airplane crash (accident) Pacific Ocean near the Marshall Islands Commanding General, Task Force 93 (Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas)

Commanding General, U.S. Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (AAFPOA)

[5][8]
Lesley James McNair United States Army 25 July 1944 Friendly fire (airstrike) Saint-Lô, Normandy, France Commanding General, Army Ground Forces

Commanding General, First United States Army Group (fictitious/paper command)

Posthumously promoted to general in 1954

[4][5][2]

Major generals[edit]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
Charles D. Barrett United States Marine Corps 8 October 1943 Fall from a balcony (possibly suicide) Noumea, New Caledonia Commanding General, I Marine Amphibious Corps [5][9][10]
Herbert Dargue United States Army Air Forces 12 December 1941 Airplane crash (accident) Near Sierra Nevada mountains in California Was en route to relieve Lieutenant General Walter Short of duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was going to be Commanding General, Hawaiian Department [11]
Stonewall Jackson United States Army 13 October 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Camp Polk, Louisiana Commanding General, 84th Infantry Division [4][12]
Frank Mahin United States Army 24 July 1942 Airplane crash (accident) Wayne County, Tennessee Commanding General, 33rd Infantry Division [13]
Paul Newgarden United States Army 14 July 1944 Airplane crash (accident) Chattanooga, Tennessee Commanding General, 10th Armored Division [14]
Edwin D. Patrick United States Army 15 March 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Near Montalban (now. Rodriguez), Rizal, Luzon Island, Philippines Commanding General, 6th Infantry Division [5][15]
Maurice Rose United States Army 30 March 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Near Paderborn, Germany Commanding General, 3rd Armored Division [4][5][16]
Clarence L. Tinker United States Army Air Forces 7 June 1942 Airplane crash (hostile fire or accident) Near Midway Island Commanding General, Seventh Air Force [17]
William P. Upshur United States Marine Corps 21 July 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Near Sitka, Alaska Commanding General, Department of the Pacific, U.S. Marine Corps

Medal of Honor recipient

[5][18]

Rear admirals[edit]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
Daniel J. Callaghan United States Navy 13 November 1942 Hostile fire (naval gunfire) Off Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands Commander, Task Group 67.4 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Medal of Honor recipient

[5][19]
Charles P. Cecil United States Navy 31 July 1944 Airplane crash (accident) Near Funafuti, Tuvalu Commander, unit of VII Amphibious Force [20]
Theodore E. Chandler United States Navy 7 January 1945 Hostile fire (kamikaze) Lingayen Gulf, Philippines Commander, Cruiser Division 4 during the invasion of Lingayen Gulf [21]
Robert Henry English United States Navy 21 January 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Boonville, California Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet [22]
Isaac C. Kidd United States Navy 7 December 1941 Hostile fire (aerial bomb) Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Commander, Battleship Division One during the attack on Pearl Harbor

Medal of Honor recipient

[5][23]
Don Pardee Moon United States Navy 3 August 1944 Suicide (gunshot) Mediterranean Sea Commander, Task Force 87 (Camel Force) for Operation Dragoon [24][25]
Henry M. Mullinnix United States Navy 24 November 1943 Hostile fire (torpedo) Off Makin Island, Gilbert Islands Commander, Carrier Division 24 and Task Group 52.3 during the Battle of Makin [26]
Norman Scott United States Navy 13 November 1942 Suspected friendly fire from USS San Francisco while fighting enemy ships (naval gunfire) Off Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands Second-in-command, Task Group 67.4 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Medal of Honor recipient

[5][27]
John W. Wilcox Jr. United States Navy 27 March 1942 Swept overboard and lost at sea North Atlantic Ocean Commander, battleships, Atlantic Fleet [28]

Brigadier generals[edit]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
James Roy Andersen United States Army Air Forces 26 February 1945 Airplane crash (accident) Pacific Ocean near the Marshall Islands Chief of Staff to Lieutenant General Millard Harmon [5][29]
Charles H. Barth Jr. United States Army Air Forces 3 May 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Mount Fagradalsfjall, Iceland Chief of Staff to Lieutenant General Frank Maxwell Andrews [4][5][30][31][32]
Gustav Joseph Braun United States Army 17 March 1945 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Near Monte Bel Monte, Italy Assistant Commanding General, 34th Infantry Division [4][5][33]
Frederick Walker Castle United States Army Air Forces 24 December 1944 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Near Hods, Belgium Commanding General, 4th Combat Bombardment Wing

Medal of Honor recipient

[34]
James Dalton II United States Army 16 May 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Dalton Pass, Luzon, Philippines Assistant Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division [4][5][35]
Asa N. Duncan United States Army Air Forces 17 November 1942 Airplane crash (accident) Atlantic Ocean, en route from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar Chief of Staff to Major General Carl Spaatz, commander of the Eighth Air Force [36][37]
Claudius Miller Easley United States Army 19 June 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Okinawa, Japan Assistant Commanding General, 96th Infantry Division [4][5][38]
Nathan Bedford Forrest III United States Army Air Forces 13 June 1943 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Kiel, Germany Chief of Staff of the Second Air Force [39]
Harold Huston George United States Army Air Forces 29 April 1942 Airplane crash (accident) Batchelor Field, Northern Territory, Australia Deputy Chief of Staff for Material & Logistics (A-4), Far East Air Force [40][41]
Davis Dunbar Graves United States Army Air Forces 8 February 1944 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Porto Santo Stefano, Italy Commanding General, 63rd Fighter Wing [42]
Charles Leslie Keerans Jr. United States Army 11 July 1943 Missing in action (hostile fire or friendly fire) Near Sicily, Italy Assistant Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division [4][5][43]
Allan C. McBride United States Army 9 May 1944 Starvation in a POW camp Shirakawa Prison Camp, Formosa Deputy Chief of Staff to General Douglas MacArthur

Commanding General of the Service Command Area, Bataan

[44]
Don Pratt United States Army 6 June 1944 Glider crash (accident) Normandy, France Assistant Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division [4][5][45]
Howard Knox Ramey United States Army Air Forces 26 March 1943 Missing in action (hostile fire or accident) Torres Strait was the last confirmed location Commanding General, V Bomber Command [46][47]
Edmund Wilson Searby United States Army 14 September 1944 Hostile fire (tank) Épinal, Lorraine, France Commanding General of Artillery, 80th Infantry Division [48]
Kenneth Walker United States Army Air Forces 5 January 1943 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Rabaul, New Britain Commanding General, V Bomber Command

Medal of Honor recipient

[49][50]
Nelson Macy Walker United States Army 10 July 1944 Hostile fire (small arms) La Haye-du-Puits, Normandy, France Assistant Commanding General, 8th Infantry Division [51][52]
Carlyle Hilton Wash United States Army Air Forces 26 January 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Flomaton, Florida Commanding General, II Air Support Command [53][54][50]
James Edward Wharton United States Army 12 August 1944 Hostile fire (small arms) Sourdeval, Normandy, France Commanding General, 28th Infantry Division [4][5][55]
Russell Alger Wilson United States Army Air Forces 6 March 1944 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Berlin, Germany Commanding General, 4th Bombardment Wing [56]

Commodores[edit]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
James Alexander Logan United States Navy 4 September 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Maghera, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom Commander, United States Naval Operating Base, Londonderry [57][58]

Colonels[edit]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
William Orlando Darby United States Army 30 April 1945 Hostile fire (artillery) Torbole, Italy Assistant Commanding General, 10th Mountain Division. Promoted posthumously to brigadier general on 15 May 1945, backdated to 30 April 1945 [4][5][59]
Douglas Blakeshaw Netherwood United States Army Air Forces 19 August 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Between Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, and Pope Field, North Carolina Assigned to the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Promoted to brigadier general in October 1940, but reverted to the rank of colonel on 25 December 1941 [60][6]

Brigadier generals of the Philippine Army[edit]

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][62]

Image Name Branch Date of death Cause of death Location Commands References
Simeon de Jesus Philippine Army 31 December 1944 Executed by Japanese forces Manila, Philippines Chief of Intelligence (G-2), Military Intelligence Service, U.S. Army Forces in the Far East [63][64]
Guy Fort Philippine Army 11 November 1942 Executed by Japanese forces Marawi, Mindanao, Philippines Commanding General, 81st Infantry Division (Philippines), U.S. Army Forces in the Far East [65]
Vicente Lim Philippine Army 31 December 1944 Executed by Japanese forces Manila, Philippines Commanding General, 41st Infantry Division (Philippines), U.S. Army Forces in the Far East [4][66][39]
Fidel Segundo Philippine Army 6 January 1945 Executed by Japanese forces Manila, Philippines Commanding General, 1st Regular Division (Philippines), U.S. Army Forces in the Far East [67]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 39.
  2. ^ a b Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 219.
  3. ^ "Public Law 83-508". www.govinfo.gov. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ a b Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 428.
  7. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 361–362.
  8. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 400.
  9. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 635.
  10. ^ Rems 2014, pp. 91–93.
  11. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 380–381.
  12. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 164.
  13. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 201.
  14. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 239.
  15. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 251–252.
  16. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 281.
  17. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 450.
  18. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 661.
  19. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 509.
  20. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 513.
  21. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 514.
  22. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 529–530.
  23. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 563–564.
  24. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 585–586.
  25. ^ Morison 1957, pp. 237, 241–242, 341.
  26. ^ "Henry Maston Mullinnix". Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  27. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 608–609.
  28. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 628.
  29. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 360.
  30. ^ "Charles Henry Barth Jr". American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  31. ^ "General Charles H. Barth". The New York Times. 6 May 1943. p. 12. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  32. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 16.
  33. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 31–32.
  34. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 374–375.
  35. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 75.
  36. ^ "Brigadier General Asa North Duncan > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  37. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 384.
  38. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 93–94.
  39. ^ a b Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 191.
  40. ^ "Brigadier General Harold H. George > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  41. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 193.
  42. ^ "Brigadier General Davis Dunbar Graves > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  43. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 171.
  44. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 210.
  45. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 263.
  46. ^ "Brigadier General Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  47. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 435.
  48. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 290.
  49. ^ "Brigadier General Kenneth Newton Walker > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  50. ^ a b Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 453–454.
  51. ^ Sullivan, Brian (4 July 2011). "Day 185: Gen. Nelson M. Walker | Archives". Berkshire Eagle. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  52. ^ Blumenson 1961, p. 125.
  53. ^ "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.
  54. ^ "Brigadier General Carlyle Hilton Wash > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  55. ^ Blumenson 1961, p. 511.
  56. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 459.
  57. ^ "Commodore James Alexander Logan". Magherafelt District War Dead. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  58. ^ "VMH: James A. Logan, Como, USN". usnamemorialhall.org. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  59. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, pp. 77–78.
  60. ^ "Brigadier General Douglas Blakeshaw Netherwood > Air Force > Biography Display". United States Air Force. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  61. ^ "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.
  62. ^ Morton 1953, pp. 8–12.
  63. ^ Brown 1988, p. 215.
  64. ^ Ancell & Miller 1996, p. 105.
  65. ^ Brown 1988, pp. 40–41.
  66. ^ Brown 1988, pp. 79–80.
  67. ^ Brown 1988, pp. 125–126.

References[edit]

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