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Truman, Louis Watson, LTG.
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Last Address Atlanta, GA
Date of Passing Dec 02, 2004
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Lieutenant General Louis W. Truman
Commanding General Third Army
Lt. Gen. Louis W. Truman was born June 20, 1908. In 1926, he enlisted in Company E, 140th Infantry, 35th Division, Missouri National Guard. Truman entered the U. S. Military Academy at West Point June 2, 1928 and, upon graduation in 1932, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry.
Truman's first duty assignment was the 6th Infantry Regiment at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. During his tenure there, he held several positions. In 1936, then-1st Lt. Truman was assigned to Fort Benning, where he completed the Infantry School and The Tank School. Next, he served a two-year tour of duty at Fort Davis, in the Canal Zone and then returned to Fort Benning, to the 14th Armored brigade, 2nd Armored Division under Brig. Gen. George S. Patton, Commanding.
Truman was promoted to major in February 1942 and was assigned to Headquarters, Army Ground Forces, Washington, DC first as assistant G3 and later as Secretary of the General Staff for Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair. In1944, he was selected as Chief of Staff, 84th Infantry Division, Brig. Gen. Alex R. Bolling, commanding. During Truman's tenure as chief of staff, the 84th saw combat along the Siegfried Line, the Bulge, the Ardennes and in Germany from the Roer River to the Elbe River.
In 1946, then-Col. Truman was assigned to HQ, U. S. Forces European Theater, Frankfurt, Germany, as Deputy Theater Chief, Special Services. From 1946 to 1948, Truman was assigned as Secretary, U.S. Delegation, United Nations Military Staff Committee. Truman was a student at the National War College from 1948 to 1949. Following that, he was a member of the Joint Strategic Planning Group, Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Pentagon, Washington, DC. During this assignment, Gen. Omar Bradley was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Truman commanded the 223rd Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division from July 1952 to January 1953, in combat in Korea. He later served as assistant division commander of the 2nd Infantry Division until the cessation of hostilities in July1953. From then until 1955, Truman served again with Bolling, this time as chief of staff of Third U. S. Army at Fort McPherson, Ga. That assignment was followed by duty at Naples, Italy, where then-Brig. Gen. Truman was Deputy Chief of Staff - G3, Plans and Operations, NATO Southern Command.
Truman received his second star in 1956 and with it the chairmanship of the Military Assistance Advisory Group, Karachi, Pakistan. He then commanded the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Lewis, Wash., from 1958 until 1960. In 1958 he was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff Operations and Training and later as Deputy Commanding General, Headquarters, Continental Army Command, Fort Monroe, Va. Concurrent with this latter position, Truman was Commander Joint Task Force.
In 1962, Truman was promoted to lieutenant general and then, from 1963 until 1965, he commanded VII Corps at Kelly Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. This assignment was followed by his assignment as Commanding General, Third U. S. Army, Fort McPherson, Ga., until his retirement in August 1967.
During his military career, Truman was earned many awards to include: the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star (one oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit (one oak leaf cluster), the Bronze Star Medal (two oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal (one oak leaf cluster) and the Combat Infantryman Badge (two awards).
Following his retirement in 1967, Truman was Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade under governors Maddox, Carter and Busbee. From 1976 until 1984, Truman served as vice president and special assistant to the president of Adams/Cates Realty in Atlanta.
He has resided in Atlanta since his retirement in 1967 after 37 years of active duty in the Army. Born June 20, 1908 in Kansas City, MO. He was preceded in death by his parents, Maj. Gen. Ralph Emerson Truman, Nanny Louise Watson Truman, his brother Col. Corbie Truman, his sister, Henrietta Truman Davidson, and his first wife, Margret Stevenson Truman.
The 2nd Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army.It was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France.
The 2nd Infantry Division  is a formation of the United States Army. Its current primary mission is the pre-emptive defense of South Korea in the event of an invasion from North Korea. There are approximately 17,000 soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Division, with 10,000 of them stationed in South Korea,accounting for about 35% of the United States Forces Korea personnel.
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The 2nd Infantry Division is unique in that it is the only U.S. Army division that is made up partially of South Korean soldiers, called KATUSAs (Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army). This program began in 1950 by agreement with the first South Korean president, Syngman Rhee. Some 27,000 KATUSAs served with the U.S. forces at the end of the Korean War. As of May 2006, approximately 1,100 KATUSA soldiers serve with the 2ID. There were also more than 4,748 Dutch soldiers assigned to the division between 1950 and 1954.
Twice during World War I the division was commanded by US Marine Corps generals, Brigadier General Charles A. Doyen and Major General John A. Lejeune (after whom the Marine Corps Camp in North Carolina is named), the only time in U.S. military history when Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division.
 He organized and commanded the 5th Marine Regiment in World War I, and in France took command of the 4th Brigade, 2d Division, composed of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion. from 26 October to 8 November 1917, he served as commanding general, 2nd Division (United States), the first Marine officer to command a U.S. Army division. He returned to the United States, dying of influenza during the height of the global pandemic on 6 October 1918 at Quantico, Virginia.The 4th Brigade went on to win a historic victory in Belleau Wood. Brigadier General Doyen's contribution to these victories was recognized by the posthumous award of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the first to ever be awarded.
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was named in his honor during World War II. Lejeune is often referred to in the present day as being the "greatest of all Leathernecks" and the "Marine's Marine."
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Major General John A. Lejeune, U.S. Marine Corps, 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1920-1929)
MOH Recipient(s) Private Frank J. Bart U.S. Army, Company C, 9th Infantry, 2nd Division.
being on duty as a company runner, when the advance was held up by machinegun fire voluntarily picked up an automatic rifle, ran out ahead of the line, and silenced a hostile machinegun nest, killing the German gunners. The advance then continued, and when it was again hindered shortly afterward by another machinegun nest this courageous soldier repeated his bold exploit by putting the second machinegun out of action.
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PVT Frank J. Bart
MOH Recipient(s) SFC Junior D. Edwards,U.S. Army, Company E, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.Â
SFC Edwards, Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When his platoon, while assisting in the defense of a strategic hill, was forced out of its position and came under vicious raking fire from an enemy machine gun set up on adjacent high ground, SFC Edwards individually charged the hostile emplacement, throwing grenades as he advanced. The enemy withdrew but returned to deliver devastating fire when he had expended his ammunition. Securing a fresh supply of grenades, he again charged the emplacement, neutralized the weapon and killed the crew, but was forced back by hostile small-arms fire. When the enemy emplaced another machine gun and resumed fire, SFC Edwards again renewed his supply of grenades, rushed a third time through a vicious hail of fire, silenced this second gun and annihilated its crew. In this third daring assault he was mortally wounded but his indomitable courage and successful action enabled his platoon to regain and hold the vital strongpoint. SFC Edwards' consummate valor and gallant self-sacrifice reflect the utmost glory upon himself and are in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the Infantry and military service.Â
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SFC Junior D. EdwardsÂ
MOH Recipient (s) Corporal Victor H. Espinoza,U.S. Army, Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.Â
 For acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an Acting Rifleman in Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division during combat operations against an armed enemy in Chorwon, Korea on 1 August 1952. On that day, Corporal Espinoza and his unit were responsible for securing and holding a vital enemy hill. As the friendly unit neared its objective, it was subjected to a devastating volume of enemy fire, slowing its progress. Corporal Espinoza, unhesitatingly and being fully aware of the hazards involved, left his place of comparative safety and made a deliberate one man assault on the enemy with his rifle and grenades, destroying a machinegun and killing its crew. Corporal Espinoza continued across the fire-swept terrain to an exposed vantage point where he attacked an enemy mortar position and two bunkers with grenades and rifle fire, knocking out the enemy mortar position and destroying both bunkers and killing their occupants. Upon reaching the crest, and after running out of rifle ammunition, he called for more grenades. A comrade who was behind him threw some Chinese grenades to him. Immediately upon catching them, he pulled the pins and hurled them into the occupied trenches, killing and wounding more of the enemy with their own weapons. Continuing on through a tunnel, Corporal Espinoza made a daring charge, inflicting at least seven more casualties upon the enemy who were fast retreating into the tunnel. Corporal Espinoza was quickly in pursuit, but the hostile fire from the opening prevented him from overtaking the retreating enemy. As a result, Corporal Espinoza destroyed the tunnel with TNT, called for more grenades from his company, and hurled them at the enemy troops until they were out of reach. Corporal Espinoza's incredible display of valor secured the vital strong point and took a heavy toll on the enemy, resulting in at least fourteen dead and eleven wounded. Corporal Espinoza's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
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