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Did any flag rank officers die in Korea or Vietnam?
Yes, famously so. General Walton Walker was the ranking ground commander in Korea, head of the 8th Army and over all theater commander from the time of the invasion through the defense of the Pusan perimeter. He commanded only the 8th army in the first UN counter attack, McArthur disliked Walker and detached the 10th Corps as an independent command, headed by his own toady, General Almond.
During the retreat which followed the Chinese incusion, Walker was riding in his jeep, being driven at reckless high speed by his personal driver, as Walker always instructed him to do. Walker was searching for geographic points from which a stand could be made when a truck driven by a South Korean soldier smashed into his vehicle. Walker died instantly. He was replaced by Mathew Ridgeway. The driver of the truck was executed by the South Korean government, despite the protests of the US government.
Yes, famously so. General Walton Walker was the ranking ground commander in Korea, head of the 8th Army and over all theater commander from the time of the invasion through the defense of the Pusan perimeter. He commanded only the 8th army in the first UN counter attack, McArthur disliked Walker and detached the 10th Corps as an independent command, headed by his own toady, General Almond.
During the retreat which followed the Chinese incusion, Walker was riding in his jeep, being driven at reckless high speed by his personal driver, as Walker always instructed him to do. Walker was searching for geographic points from which a stand could be made when a truck driven by a South Korean soldier smashed into his vehicle. Walker died instantly. He was replaced by Mathew Ridgeway. The driver of the truck was executed by the South Korean government, despite the protests of the US government.
Wasent another US Army general captured and then escaped? I recall hearing stories about how he went "Rambo" and took on several North Korean tanks with grenades and a .45 before he was captured.
Wasent another US Army general captured and then escaped? I recall hearing stories about how he went "Rambo" and took on several North Korean tanks with grenades and a .45 before he was captured.
Dean. I remember reading about him when I was a kid back in the 50s.
Admiral Holland was in command of the British force in the Battle of the Denmark Straight with his flag on the Hood, he was of course killed. Hood itself was commanded by Captain Kerr.
The other British capital ship in the battle was Prince of Wales. When the Japanese sunk that ship Admiral Tom Philips was killed.
Admiral Lutjens was killed on the Bismarck when it was sunk.
Among the Japanese admirals killed in action were Yamaguchi, Ukagi, Yamamoto, Goto and Nishimura.
Last edited by Irishtom29; 01-15-2009 at 01:42 PM..
This is somewhat related to the post, in that Maj Gen Clarence Tinker was the first General officer killed in WW2. Tinker AFB in Oklahoma is named for him. He was also the first Native American to achieve the rank of General. TINKER, CLARENCE LEONARD (1887-1942)
Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd was the first flag officer killed in WWII and supposedly the first killed by a foreign enemy. He died on the bridge of the USS Arizona.
To be technical, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as US armed forces Commander-in-Chief, was the highst-ranking US casualty in WWII. I remember that his name was listed with other war dead listed on 13 April 1945.
No one has mentioned in this thread (unless I missed it) RADM Isaac Campell Kidd, who died on the bridge of BB _Arizona_ at Pearl Harbor. The legend is that all they found of him was his Annapolis class ring, blast welded to the binnacle.
Stanley Sandler
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high-ranking US officers killed in action
