Name | Edward Mallory Almond |
---|---|
Birth date | December 12, 1892 |
Death date | June 11, 1979 |
Birth place | Luray, Virginia |
Death place | Anniston, Alabama |
Placeofburial | Arlington National Cemetery |
Placeofburial label | Place of burial |
Caption | MajGen Edward Almond, commanding the 92nd Infantry Division. |
Nickname | Ned |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Branch | United States Army |
Serviceyears | 1916-1953 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Commands | 92nd Infantry DivisionX CorpsArmy War College |
Battles | World War IWorld War IIKorean War |
Awards | Distinguished Service Cross (2)Army Distinguished Service Medal (2)Silver Star (2)Purple Heart |
In 1946 Almond was transferred to Tokyo as chief of personnel at General MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ). Normally a deadend job, Almond handled the sizable challenge of staffing the occupation forces in Japan as the American forces rapidly demobilized, standing out among MacArthur's lackluster staff officers. Having won MacArthur's confidence as a capable and loyal—beyond the point of sycophancy—staff officer, Almond was the logical choice to become GHQ Chief of Staff in January 1949, when the incumbent, Paul Mueller, rotated home. As chief of staff, Almond played the part of MacArthur's alter ego, allowing no daylight to separate him from his superior.
During this time, Almond had many conflicts with Major General O. P. Smith, commander of the 1st Marine Division, which was part of X Corps (and therefore under Almond's overall command) from October until December 1950. Likewise Almond had a poor relationship with Lieutenant General Walton Walker, commander of the 8th Army. Historians have criticized Almond for the wide dispersal of his units during the X Corps invasion of the north-eastern part of North Korea, in November–December 1950. This dispersal contributed to the defeat of X Corps by Chinese troops, including the destruction of Task Force Faith, and the narrow escape of the Marines at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Military historians believe that Marine Major General O.P. Smith's skill and caution was the major reason that X Corps had as many survivors as it did. Almond was very slow to recognize the scale of the Chinese attack on X Corps, urging Army and Marine units forward despite the huge Chinese forces arrayed against them. His lack of appreciation of the strength and skill of the Chinese forces, as well as his innate racism, was on full display when he told his subordinate officers "The enemy who is delaying you for the moment is nothing more than remnants of Chinese divisions fleeing north. We're still attacking and we're going all the way to the Yalu. Don't let a bunch of Chinese laundrymen stop you."
Despite his controversial reputation, and some suspect because of his well-known good relationship with General MacArthur, Almond was retained as X Corps commander by Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway when he took command of Eighth Army in December, which now included the X Corps. Although he was regarded by Ridgway as his only aggressive corps commander and took part in the defeat of the Chinese offensives during February and March 1951, as well as the Eighth Army's counter-offensive, Operation Killer, his command was immediately severely reduced by Ridgway. Almond was promoted to Lieutenant General during this time.
Almond's decorations include the Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster, the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Silver Star with oak leaf cluster and the Purple Heart.
Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster Silver Star with oak leaf cluster Purple Heart
He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Category:1892 births Category:1979 deaths Category:American military personnel of World War I Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American military personnel of the Korean War Category:People from Page County, Virginia Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Category:United States Army generals Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (United States) Category:Recipients of the Purple Heart medal Category:Recipients of the Silver Star Category:Virginia Military Institute alumni Category:Air Corps Tactical School alumni Category:Naval War College alumni Category:United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Category:United States Army War College alumni
pt:Edward Almond sl:Edward Mallory AlmondThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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