GAY

GAY, HOBART RAYMOND, LT. GEN. USA
Post Commander and Commander VI Corps
18 August 1952 -- 06 April 1953

Born May 16, 1894, in Rockport, Illinois. He graduated from Knox College in 1917, with a Bachelor's of Science degree and was appointed a second lieutenant, Cavalry Reserve. On October 26, 1917, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of Cavalry in Regular Army.

He joined the 12th Cavalry at Hachita, Mexico, serving there from August to December when he was transferred to the Seventh Cavalry Bliss, Texas. In September 1923, he enrolled in Cavalry School, Fort Riley, Kansas, graduated in June 1924, and then took a special advanced course from which he was graduated in June 1925. He then served as an instructor until June 1929.

In July 1929, General Gay was assigned to the Quartermaster Depot and Remount Purchasing and Breeding Headquarters, Fort Reno, Oklahoma. In August 1931, he became acting officer in charge of the Remount Purchasing and Breeding Headquarters, became commanding officer of the Reno Quartermaster and Purchasing and Breeding Headquarters in 1934.

General Gay was ordered to Fort Clayton, Canal Zone, in September 1936, as post quartermaster. He entered Quartermaster School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in August 1938, and was graduated in June 1939. A month later he became post quartermaster Fort Myer, Virginia.

In August 1940, General Gay enrolled in the Army Industrial College and upon completion of the course in December 1940, became assistant to the commanding officer of the Quartermaster Depot, Washington, D. C., From January 1941 to February 1942, he served successively as division quartermaster and commanding officer, 14th Quartermaster Battalion, 2d Armored Division, and quartermaster officer, I Armored Corps, Fort Benning, Georgia. He moved with that Corps to the Desert Training Center, Camp Young, California., ill Mardi 19-12, and the following July became chief of staff, Headquarters I Armored Corps and later Western Task Force, Camp Young and Camp A. P. Hill, Virginia.

General Gay, in November 1942, was appointed chief of staff of the I Armored Corps in the North African Theater, and on July 10, 1943, became chief of staff of the Seventh Army. Following service with the Seventh Army in Sicily, he was assigned to the European theater of operations as chief of staff, Third Army, in February 1944, and in October 1945, lie because Chief of Staff of the Fifteenth Army in Germany. He assumed command of the Fifteenth Army in January 1946, and a month later became commanding general of the 1st Armored Division, also in the European theater. He was appointed commander of the Second Constabulary Brigade in Europe in April 1946, and served until August 1947.

In November 1947, General Gay became commanding general of the Military District of Washington, D. C. In September 1949, he assumed command of the 1st Cavalry Division in Osaka, Japan. Soon after the invasion of South Korea by the Communists, lie took the 1st Cavalry to Korea, where it was in action on July 19, 1950.

General Gay, in February 1951, was appointed deputy commander of the Fourth Army, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He assumed command of the VI Corps at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, in July 1952, and in April 1953, was named commanding general of the Ill Corps at Fort MacArthur, California. He remained as the commanding general of the III Corps when it moved to Fort Hood in April 1954.

In September 1954, General Gay was named the Commanding General, Headquarters, Fifth Army in Chicago, Illinois.

General Gay was awarded the Silver Star in December 1942, for gallantry in action on November 8, 1942, at Casablanca. He also has been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, and Oak Leaf Cluster to the Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal With Cluster, Air Medal and Army commendation Ribbon.

His foreign decorations include: British Distinguished Service Order; French Legion of Honor (Chevalier), Legion of Honor (Officer), Croix de .Guerre with Palm, and Fourragere; the Moroccan Ouissam Alacuite; Russian Order of the Fourth Army (Fatherland Class 1): Czechoslovakian War Cross and Order of the White Lion, Class II; Luxembourg Order of Adolphe de Nassau (Grade de Commandeur avec Couronne) and Croix de Guerre with Palm; Belgium Order de la Couronne (Grade de Commandeer avec Palme), and the Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm.

For his services in Korea, General Gay was awarded air Oak Leaf Cluster to the Distinguished Service Cross, a second Cluster to the Silver Star, and an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Distinguished Service Medal.

He was promoted to first lieutenant October 26, 1917; to captain July 1920; transferred to the Quartermaster Corps June 11, 1934; promoted to major August 1, 1935; to lieutenant colonel August 18, 1940; to colonel December 24, 1941; to brigadier general June 24, 1943; to major general March 20, 1945. He was nominated by President Eisenhower for promotion to lieutenant general (temporary) in October 1954.

. . . I was at Yongdong where they [the First Cavalry Division] went into action. . . . There were a lot of guys out there in World War II that found themselves in a strange and difficult world [in Korea]. Hobart Gay, who was commanding general of the First Cav[alry], had been chief of staff to [General George] Patton in Europe. Keyes Beech [a reporter with the Chicago Daily News] who had covered them in Europe said, “My god, isn’t it pitiful; you think of Hobart Gay, who used to have thirty divisions under him, fanning out from the North Sea to the Adriatic, now standing on a dusty road in Kumchon wondering what the hell had happened to Charlie Company.” That’s the kind of war it had gotten down to.

Correspondent, New York Daily News, Frank Holeman
Oral history interview, June 9, 1987

GENERAL HAP GAY

General Gay was the Superintendent of New Mexico Military Institute and I was a member of the Corps of Cadets, one of 600 cadets.My father and I visited with General Gay several times so later when I announced my candidacy for the Texas House of Representatives, General Gay, who by that time had retired in El Paso, called me and graciously offered to send a personal letter of endorsement to all NMMI alumni in my district. I still cherish that letter and the kind words written by this tremendous man. He had been General George Pattons Chief of Staff and was in the automobile accident that caused General Pattons death.

http://www.moorereport.com/new1890.html

World: Asia-Pacific

Seoul 'atrocity' inquiry stepped up

Bridge blown 'as refugees streamed across'

The South Korean Government is promising to broaden its inquiry into allegations that US soldiers killed hundreds of civilians during the early months of the Korean war.

The pledge follows fresh allegations based on testimony from US veterans and the accounts of Korean survivors.

Last month, an initial inquiry was launched after it was revealed that as many as 300 South Koreans may have been machine-gunned by Americans under the No Gun Ri railway bridge.

The killings were said to have taken place in July 1950. The Americans said they were told that North Koreans had been disguising themselves as South Korean refugees.

[ image: Major-General Hobart Gay 'ordered detonation']

Major-General Hobart Gay 'ordered detonation'

The new allegations, which follow investigations by the Associated Press, concern the blowing-up of two other bridges on the Nakdong river.

AP says hundreds of civilian refugees were flooding across the bridges at the time.

Major-General Herbert R Gay later agreed that he had given the order to detonate the explosives under one of the bridges, AP says.

Many US officers believed that some of the refugees were enemy infiltrators pretending to be peasants. Maj-Gen Gay died in 1983.

The South Korean and US governments are conducting inquiries.

A government spokesman in Seoul says the initial focus will be No Gun Ri but other allegations will not be neglected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/475027.stm

09/11/1952

Franklin Star

Camp Atterbury Notes -- Pvt William T. Green of Winslow, Ind., was presented the Bronze Star for Heroism, by MG Gay, for his actions neat Tombstone Hill, Korea.

09/15/1952

Franklin Star

Reception held at Camp Sunday. Approximately 2,000 persons attended a reception Sunday for MG Hobart Gay and Mrs. Gay. The party was held in the Officer's Open Mess. Also attending were MG Alexander G. Paxton and Mrs. Paxton. The 31st Division band played.

With the defeat of the 24th Infantry Division, the 7th Cav Regiment was moved up to face the enemy at Youngdong. It was aided by its sister regiments of the 1st Cav Division, the 5th and 8th Cav regiments - some 10,000 men in all. Gen. Gay ordered all ROK forces, including the police, out of his war zone. He also ordered all civilians evacuated to the rear area and any civilian found in evacuated areas should be shot.

Photo: MAJ GENERAL Hobart Gay (left) CG of the 1st Cavalry Division and LT COL William A. Harris, CO of the 77th Field Artillery Battalion, observe the effectiveness of the 77th fire at the Communist lead North Korean forces north of Taegu, 12 Sept 1950.
http://www.kimsoft.com/2001/nogun-review.htm

On July 26, 1950, the day of the bridge incident at No Gun Ri, Maj. Gen. Hobart Gay, commander of the 1st Cavalry division, told reporters that aerial reconnaissance had reported "heavy refugee movements" near the U.S. battle sector. Gay said he was certain most of the refugees were "North Korean guerrillas," according to a story by AP reporter Don Whitehead.

Offering possible clues to the Pentagon findings, a Harvard academic who serves on a civilian advisory panel, said in a recent interview that U.S. troops at No Gun Ri "were not well led," but "everyone is in agreement" that the incident was "not a deliberate atrocity."

Although some ex-GIs said they believed gunfire came from refugees at No Gun Ri, Levine and Crume say they saw and heard nothing about hostile fire, and two dozen Korean survivors have said they don't remember such activity within their ranks.

http://tspweb02.tsp.utexas.edu/webarchive/11-22-00/2000112203_s02_Ex-GIs.html

Two letters concerning the capture of a Cadillac limousine given to General Patton.

"During the period from July 13, 1944 to May 9, 1945 I commanded the 3rd BN, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division assigned to the 3rd U. S. Army. On August 17, 1944 my battalion left Mangy, France and marched tactically toward Chartres, France meeting enemy resistance about one mile west of Chartres. In the ensuring battle for Chartres during the 17th and 18th of August, my battalion captured a Cadillac limousine from the Germans. I sent the car to 11th Infantry Headquarters and Col. Yuill the commander sent it on up to Major General LeRoy Irwin the commander of the 5th Infantry Division who in turn sent it to General Patton at 3rd Army Headquarters."
General William H. Birdsong, RET. US Army (Major Birdsong at time of event)

Mr. Campbell adds, "On December 9, 1945 Patton went pheasant hunting with Major General Hobart Gay. They were enroute to a hunting lodge. Patton was riding in the right rear seat of the 1938 Cadillac 75 Special Limousine. The limousine collided with a GMC 2 1/2 ton truck near a quartermaster depot outside the city of Mannheim, Germany. Patton was thrown six feet forward and hit his head on the railing above the rear of the front seat. His head was partially scalped and his spinal cord severely damaged.
He died in hospital December 21, 1945."

GENERAL PATTON'S WARNING
The more he saw of the Soviets, the stronger Patton's conviction grew that the proper course of action would be to stifle communism then and there, while the chance existed. Later in May 1945 he attended several meetings and social affairs with top Red Army officers, and he evaluated them carefully. He noted in his diary on May 14: "I have never seen in any army at any time, including the German Imperial Army of 1912, as severe discipline as exists in the Russian army. The officers, with few exceptions, give the appearance of recently civilized Mongolian bandits."

And Patton's aide, General Hobart Gay, noted in his own journal for May 14: "Everything they (the Russians) did impressed one with the idea of virility and cruelty."

http://www.natvan.com/national-vanguard/assorted/patton.html

Man served, but not in uniform
Employee made inroads for blacks
By Nancy Haggerty
For the Poughkeepsie Journal

He found a consistently friendly face in beloved West Point instructor Marty Maher, upon whose life the movie ''The Long Gray Line'' was based. Dixon noted Maher taught swimming, among other things, but didn't swim himself and refused to get in the water.

He vividly remembers generals Hap Arnold, Hobart Gay and Dwight Eisenhower and prominent celebrities of the day -- like Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Alan Ladd and James Cagney.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/projects/west_point/march_16/manserve.shtml

Two letters concerning the capture of a Cadillac limousine given to General Patton.

Man served, but not in uniform Employee made inroads for blacks By Nancy Haggerty For the Poughkeepsie Journal

Man served, but not in uniform
Employee made inroads for blacks
By Nancy Haggerty
For the Poughkeepsie Journal