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Home Town Easton, Pennsylvania
Last Address Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Date of Passing Oct 01, 1984
Wall/Plot Coordinates Plot: Section 30, Site 624-2
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Easton native George Jacob Richards, who retired from the Army as a major general, received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Legion of Merit award from the U.S. government and was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the French, died Monday in Doylestown Hospital. He was 93.
A resident of the Pine Run Community, Doylestown, he formerly lived in Camp Hill, Cumberland County. He was the husband of the later Esmee (MacMahon) Richards and the late Emeline (Dinkey) Richards.
A 1915 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Richards served with the Army until retiring from active service in 1953. In 1955, he was named deputy secretary of the state highway department by then-Governor George Leader. He retired from that post in 1959.
In 1974, Pennsylvania awarded him its Distinguished Service Medal for, among other things, his support of the Army Reserve and National Guard, the promotion of understanding and a friendly relationship between the Reserve and the Regular Army, and his dedication to theneeds of society.
Much of his Army career was spent in the Corps of Engineers. He participated in the 1916 Punitive Expedition into Mexico, and later became district engineer for the First and Second Mississippi River districts at Memphis, Tenn.
He served as an assistant mathematics professor at West Point and, after graduating in 1930 from the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., he took command of the 11th Engineer Combat Regiment at Corozal, Canal Zone, where the battalion engaged in mapping and maneuvers in Panama and the Canal Zone.
In 1933, he was assigned to the Budget and Legislative Planning Branch of the War Department General Staff. He served a tour as district engineer of the U.S. Great Lake Survey at Detroit, then was sent to Fort Ord, Calif., in 1940.
In 1941, he became the first chief of the budget division and budget officer for the War department. When the Department of Defense was formed in 1947 he became the first comptroller of the Army.
In 1949, he became inspector general of the European Command, stationed in Berlin and Heidelberg. In 1950, he was assigned as chief of the Military Advisory Group to France, stationed in Paris.
He received the Distinguished Service Medal for "maintaining budgetary planning on a sound basis and in developing and administering wartime budgets totalling more than $160 billion." He received the Legion of Merit award for an Army-wide study of supply and production that "resulted in the conservation of vast quantities of critical material and labor and thus contributed substantially to the prosecution of the war."
In 1953, Lafayette College, which he attended before going to West Point, awarded him an honorary doctor of science degree.
Born in Easton, he was a son of the late Elmer P. and Cora M. (Hodge) Richards.
He was a member of Olivet Presbyterian Church, Easton.
He was president of the University Center at Harrisburg, president of the Cumberland Valley Chapter of the Retired Officer Association, and chairman of Uniformed Services Retiree Group in Washington, D.C.
Description The Mexican Service Medal is an award of the United States military which was established by General Orders of the United States War Department on December 12, 1917. The Mexican Service Medal recognizes those service members who performed military service against Mexican forces between the dates of April 12, 1911 and June 16, 1919.
To be awarded the Mexican Service Medal, a service member was required to perform military duty during the time period of eligibility and in one of the following military engagements.
Veracruz Expedition: April 21 to November 23, 1914
Punitive Expedition into Mexico: March 14, 1916 to February 7, 1917
Buena Vista, Mexico: December 1, 1917
San Bernardino Canyon, Mexico: December 26, 1917
La Grulla, Texas: January 8 – January 9, 1918
Pilares, Chihuahua: March 28, 1918
Nogales, Arizona: November 1–26, 1915, or August 27, 1918
El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua: June 15 – June 16, 1919
The United States Navy issued the Mexican Service Medal to members of the Navy and Marines who participated in any of the above actions, as well as to service members who served aboard U.S. naval vessels patrolling Mexican waters between April 21 and November 26, 1914, or between March 14, 1916, and February 7, 1917.
The Mexican Service Medal was also awarded to any service member who was wounded or killed while participating in action any against hostile Mexican forces between April 12, 1911 and February 7, 1917.
Although a single decoration, both the Army and Navy issued two different versions of the Mexican Service Medal. The Army Mexican Service Medal displayed an engraving of a yucca plant, while the Navy version depicts the San Juan de Ulúa fortress in Veracruz harbor. Both medals displayed the annotation "1911 - 1917" on the bottom of the medal.
The Mexican Service Medal was a one time decoration and there were no service stars authorized for those who had participated in multiple engagements. For those Army members who had been cited for gallantry in combat, the Citation Star was authorized as a device to the Mexican Service Medal. There were no devices authorized for the Navy's version of the decoration.
A similar decoration, known as the Mexican Border Service Medal also existed for those who had performed support duty to Mexican combat expeditions from within the United States.
