klb@pegasus.att.com (Kevin Blatter) (09/20/90)
From: klb@pegasus.att.com (Kevin Blatter) Driving to work the other day, I was thinking of high-ranking U.S. Military officers that have been killed in battle. Two questions came to mind: 1) Who where the highest ranking officers killed in action during each of the United State's military conflicts? What rank did they hold at the time of death? 2) What percentage of officers lost their lives as opposed to the percentage of enlisted personnel? I do know that during the Civil War that it was not at all uncommon for Generals to be killed by sharpshooters and thus a greater percentage of officers list their lives than did enlisted men. Is this still the case? If not, during what conflict was the trend reversed? Kevin Blatter AT&T - Bell Laboratories Lincroft, NJ
rab%ginger.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Robert A. Bruce) (09/24/90)
From: rab%ginger.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Robert A. Bruce) In article <1990Sep20.022223.15200@cbnews.att.com> klb@pegasus.att.com (Kevin Blatter) writes: >I do know that during the Civil War that it was not at all uncommon for >Generals to be killed by sharpshooters and thus a greater percentage of >officers list their lives than did enlisted men. Is this still the case? >If not, during what conflict was the trend reversed? Officers still die at a greater percentage rate than enlisted. In a modern infantry unit the most dangerous jobs are: 1. Platoon commander (officer) 2. Radio operator (enlisted) 3. Machinegunner (enlisted) The platoon commanders are most likely to be killed because they tend to expose themselves and move around a lot to control their platoons. It is usually pretty easy for a sniper to figure out who the platoon commander is. Radio operators get hit because the enemy sees their antennaes, and fires at them to take out the cp. Machineguns are relatively easy to target at night because the muzzle flashes and the tracers give away their positions. During training exercises with MILES gear, it is not uncommon for an infantry company to lose nearly all of their officers before they have taken 20% casualties. Mortality of aircraft pilots was high during several modern wars, such as the Yom Kipper War, and the Falklands War. Aircraft crews are made up primarily of officers, so that tilts the odds even further against them.
ham@hpcc01.HP.COM (Bob Hamilton) (09/29/90)
From: ham@hpcc01.HP.COM (Bob Hamilton) > 1) Who where the highest ranking officers killed in action during each > of the United State's military conflicts? What rank did they hold at > the time of death? For WWII, I think it was Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner (USA), killed during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. --Bob Hamilton Corporate Quality Information Systems Hewlett-Packard Mail Stop 29AK 3172 Porter Drive Palo Alto, California 94304 (415) 857-6025 ham@hpsdesis.corp.hp.com
emery@linus.mitre.org (David Emery) (10/03/90)
From: emery@linus.mitre.org (David Emery) >From: ham@hpcc01.HP.COM (Bob Hamilton) >For WWII, I think it was Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner (USA), killed >during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. Nope. It's General (4 stars) Leslie McNair, killed during the carpet bombing prior to Cobra when U.S. bombs fell short. McNair (an old artilleryman) was quite deaf and didn't hear the incoming. He was there unofficially, and they kept his death a secret. I think his son was killed shortly before or after his death. I think McNair was in the ETO because he was being considered for the job of commander of U.S. Army Ground Forces (Bradley's eventual job). He came over from the states where he was commander of the Ground Forces stateside (the precedessor of what is now known as Army Forces Command). A 4-star was killed in an auto accident in Korea (Walker?) and was replaced by Ridgeway. At least 1 division commander (2-star) was killed in VietNam when his helicopter was shot down. dave emery emery@aries.mitre.org
clements@cs.utexas.edu (Paul C. Clements) (10/03/90)
From: clements@cs.utexas.edu (Paul C. Clements) > 1) Who where the highest ranking officers killed in action during each > of the United State's military conflicts? What rank did they hold at > the time of death? >From: ham@hpcc01.HP.COM (Bob Hamilton) > For WWII, I think it was Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner (USA), killed > during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. Also, on July 24, 1944, in one of the carpet bombing operations planned to aid the D-day breakout, Allied bombs killed 111 Americans. One of the casualties was Lt. Gen. Leslie J. McNair, a senior member of the U. S. Army staff in Washington who had joined a frontline batallion as an observer. Source: "Liberation", Time-Life WWII series, p. 56. P. C. Clements
welty@lewis.crd.ge.com (richard welty) (10/05/90)
From: welty@lewis.crd.ge.com (richard welty)
In article <1990Oct2.234822.22777@cbnews.att.com>, David Emery writes:
*A 4-star was killed in an auto accident in Korea (Walker?) and was
*replaced by Ridgeway.
Walton J. (``Johnny'') Walker was killed in an auto accident; i
don't recall that he was a full General, but rather that he was a
Lieutenant General.
a number of Brigadier and Major Generals were killed in the Civil War;
i think that probably Stonewall Jackson was the highest ranking
general killed. he was certainly the most important general killed,
and Lee never really recovered from the loss.
richard
--
richard welty 518-387-6346, GE R&D, K1-5C39, Niskayuna, New York
welty@lewis.crd.ge.com ...!crdgw1!lewis.crd.ge.com!welty
``Don't close your eyes for the crash; you'll miss the best part''
-- Bruce MacInnes, Skip Barber Driving School instructormajor@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt) (10/15/90)
From: bcstec!shuksan!major@uunet.UU.NET (Mike Schmitt) In article <1990Oct2.234822.22777@cbnews.att.com>, emery@linus.mitre.org (David Emery) writes: > > > From: emery@linus.mitre.org (David Emery) > > >From: ham@hpcc01.HP.COM (Bob Hamilton) > >For WWII, I think it was Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner (USA), killed > >during the invasion of Okinawa in 1945. LTG Buckner was killed by a mortar round exploding near him while over looking what is now Buckner Bay, Okinawa - the same round wounded my father-in-law, an infantry captain. > At least 1 division commander (2-star) was killed in VietNam when his > helicopter was shot down. Major General Keith Ware, 1st Infantry Division. mts