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MAJ Mark E Cooper
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Hays, George Price (MOH), LTG.
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Contact Info
Home Town El Reno, OK
Date of Passing Aug 07, 1978
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
George P. Hays was born in 1892 in China, where his parents were missionaries. He spent his youth in El Reno, Oklahoma, graduating from high school there and from Oklahoma A&M (Oklahoma State University now)with a B.S. degree. He earned a commission early in World War I and was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division. He remained with that division throughout the war, participating in the fighting at Chateau-Thiery,Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne.
In the second battle of the Marne, General Hays earned the Nation's highest tribute, the Congressional Medal of Honor. He personally carried vital messages between front line units and their supporting artillery. Seven horses were shot from under him.
Between World War I and II, General Hays attended various Army schools including the battery officers course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1921-22; Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 1932-34; and Army War College, 1939-40. Between these schools he served as Assistant PMS&T at Cornell 1922-26; with the 18th Field Artillery school troops at Fort Sill from 1926-30; the 24th Field Artillery, Fort Stotsenberg, Philippine Islands,from 1930-32; the 6th Field Artillery, Ft. Hoyle, Maryland, 1934-36 and as G-4,Sixth Corps Area, From 1936 to 1939.
General Hays organized and commanded the 99th field Artillery, Pack in 1940,remaining in command until 1941, when he went to the Operations Division of the War Department and then to GHQ as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3. He served in that capacity until he joined the 2nd Infantry Division in March 1942 as commanding general of artillery. While the division was in Northern Ireland training for the invasion of the continent, he was assigned in Italy as temporary artillery commander of the 34th Division in the assault on Cassino. He then returned to the 2nd Division artillery which landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day plus-one. He remained with the division through the reduction of Brest and the initial actions against the Siegfried Line, then was assigned to command the 10th Mountain Division, and lead it into action inItaly.
The 10th, the only U.S. mountain division, made up largely of trained mountaineers, skiers and woodsmen, was engaged in some of the heaviest fighting in the Apennines to clear the way for the 5th Army's advance.
With the end of World War II hostilities, the 10th had the task of occupying Trieste and the disputed Venesia-Giulia province. The division was inactivated November 30, 1945 at Camp Carson, Colorado.
General Hays then commanded the 4th Infantry Division until it too was inactivated at Camp Butner, North Carolina in March 1946. He then joined the Sixth Army as deputy commander at Ninth Service Command Headquarters. With the inactivation of the Service and the transfer of its functions to the Sixth Army, General Hays resumed duty as deputy commander of the Sixth Army.
In September, 1947, General Hays was appointed deputy military governor for Germany. Three months later, he became commanding general of the Office of Military Government for Germany with station at Berlin. He was designated Deputy High commissioner for Germany in December, 1949, and in April, 1952, became commander of the U.S. Forces in Austria, with station at Salzburg.
In addition to the Congressional Medal of Honor, General Hays has received the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star Medal. His foreign decorations include the British Companion of the Bath, the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre with Palm, the Italian War Cross, and Montenagro's Prince Danilo Medal.
General and Mrs. Hays, the former Miss Glayds Stepto, of London, England, have two children, George J. Hays and Mrs. James H. King.
LTG George P. Hays died in 1978.
Medal of Honor citation
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, United States Army, 10th Field Artillery, 3d Division.
Place and date: Near Greves Farm, France, 14-July 15, 1918.
Entered service at: Okarche, Oklahoma.
Born: September 27, 1892, China.
General Orders No.34. War Department, 1919.
Citation: At the very outset of the unprecedented artillery bombardment by the enemy, his line of communication was destroyed beyond repair. Despite the hazard attached to the mission of runner, he immediately set out to establish contact with the neighboring post of command and further establish liaison with 2 French batteries, visiting their position so frequently that he was mainly responsible for the accurate fire therefrom. While thus engaged, 7 horses were shot under him and he was severely wounded. His activity under most severe fire was an important factor in checking the advance of the enemy.
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.
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 GeneralCharles A. Doyen and Major GeneralJohn 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."
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.
PVT Frank J. Bart
MOH Recipient(s) SFC Junior D. Edwards,U.S. Army, Company E, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
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.
SFC Junior D. Edwards
MOH Recipient (s) Corporal Victor H. Espinoza,U.S. Army, Company A, 23d Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
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.
