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Contact Info
Home Town Jersey City
Last Address San Francisco, CA
Date of Passing Dec 09, 1984
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Joseph May Swing (February 28, 1894 - December 9, 1984) was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army, who commanded the 11th Airborne Division during the campaign to liberate the Philippines in World War II.
LTG Swing was commissioned in the field artillery. He served with the Punitive Expedition into Mexico in 1916 and 1917 and with the 1st Division during World War I. During the interwar period, Swing graduated from the Command and General Staff School and the Army War College, was an instructor at the Field Artillery School, and served as chief of staff of the 2nd Division and artillery commander for the 1st Cavalry Division.
In February 1942, Swing, with the rank of brigadier general, was appointed artillery commander for the 82nd Infantry Division, which was converted into the army's first airborne division that summer. Quickly becoming a disciple of the airborne concept, Swing, promoted to major general, was named commander of the newly created 11th Airborne Division in December 1942. While training the division, Swing headed a special board that recommended numerous changes in the use of airborne troops after their disappointing performance in operations in 1942 and 1943. In maneuvers at the end of 1943, he demonstrated with his 11th Airborne Division how airborne forces could overwhelm an enemy, ending any doubts in the army hierarchy about the use of airborne troops in division-size units.
Swing took his division to the Southwest Pacific Theater in May 1944. In the fall, it was committed, as light infantry, to the struggle for Leyte Island in the Philippines. In 1945, Swing's men, fighting both as light infantry and airborne troops, participated in the bitter battle for Manila, helped clear southern Luzon Island of Japanese, and assisted in mopping-up operations in northern Luzon. In August 1945, Swing's division deployed to Japan as the vanguard of the Allied occupation force there.
Swing remained with the division until the end of 1947. He then served successively as commander of the I Corps, commandant of the Army War College, and commander of the Sixth Army. Retiring from the army in February 1954 as a lieutenant general, he then served as Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration & Naturalization 1954-61. Swing died in San Francisco, California, on 9 December 1984.
Other Comments:
The 11th Airborne Division was a United States Army airborne formation, first activated on 25 February 1943, during World War II. The division took part in several training exercises in 1943, including the Knollwood Maneuver. It played a vital part in this exercise, helping demonstrate that American airborne forces could operate successfully at up to divisional strength after the disappointing performance of the 82nd Airborne Division during Operation Husky. Held in reserve in the United States, the division did not take part in early Allied airborne operations. In June 1944, it transferred to the Pacific Theater.
On arrival in the Pacific, the division entered a period of intense training and acclimatization. By November it was combat-ready, and was transported to Leyte in the Philippines, seeing action in an infantry–not airborne–role. The 11th left Leyte in January 1945, and then took part in the invasion of Luzon, operating in two formations. The first formation deployed the division's two Glider Infantry Regiments as conventional infantry, securing a beachhead before fighting their way inland. The second formation, the division's single Parachute Infantry Regiment, was held in reserve for several days before conducting the division's first airborne operation, landing on Tagatay Ridge and linking up with the two glider infantry regiments. The re-combined division participated in the Liberation of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Two companies of paratroopers from the division also conducted the famous Raid at Los Baños, liberating two thousand civilians held in a Japanese internment camp. The division's last World War II combat operation was in Aparri, aiding the advance of American forces in Northern Luzon, just before hostilities ended.
On 30 August 1945, the division moved to southern Japan, as part of the Occupation of Japan. The division remained in Japan for four years until May 1949, when it returned to the United States. It then became a training formation, while the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment was detached from the division and saw service in the Korean War before returning to the United States. The division was deactivated 30 June 1958 and then reactivated 1 February 1963 as the experimental 11th Air Assault Division (Test), to explore the theory and practicality of helicopter assault tactics. It was finally deactivated on 29 June 1965 with all of its personnel and equipment coming under the command of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
World War I/Aisne Campaign/World War I/The Battle of Cantigny
From Month/Year
May / 1918
To Month/Year
May / 1918
Description The Battle of Cantigny, fought May 28th 1918 was the first major American battle and offensive of World War I. The U.S. 1st Division, the most experienced of the five American divisions then in France and in reserve for the French Army near the village of Cantigny, was selected for the attack. The objective of the attack was both to reduce a small salient made by the German Army in the front lines but also to instill confidence among the French and British allies in the ability of the inexperienced American Expeditionary Force (AEF).
Capture of Cantigny
At 06:45 [H Hour], 28 May 1918, American Soldiers of the 28th Infantry Regiment left their jump-off trenches following an hour-long artillery preparation. Part of the preparation was counter-battery fire directed at German artillery positions. A rolling barrage, advancing 100 meters every two minutes, was calculated to give the attacking troops time to keep up with it.
The 28th Infantry Regiment (Colonel Hansen Ely, commanding) plus two companies of the 18th Infantry, three machine-gun companies and a company of engineers (3,564 men), captured Cantigny from the German Eighteenth Army. The village was situated on high ground surrounded by woods, making it an ideal observation post for German artillery.
Because the Americans did not have them in sufficient quantity, the French provided air cover, 368 heavy artillery pieces, trench mortars, tanks, and flamethrowers. The French Schneider tanks were from the French 5th Tank battalion. Their primary purpose was to eliminate German machine gun positions. With this massive support, and advancing on schedule behind the creeping artillery barrage, the 28th Infantry took the village in 30 minutes. It then continued on to its final objective roughly a half kilometer beyond the village.
Defense against German counterattacks
The first German counterattack, a small attack at 08:30 against the extreme right of the new American position, was easily repulsed, but German artillery bombarded the 28th Infantry for most of the day. At 17:10 the first large-scale counterattack took place, and a company of the 1st Battalion of the 26th Infantry commanded by Major Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was used to reinforce a weak spot in the American line. Another German counterattack at 18:40 was also repulsed by a combination of artillery and Infantry defensive fire. A series of counterattacks over the next two days were also defeated by both American regiments, and the position held.
The Americans reduced the salient and expanded their front by approximately a mile. A minor success, its significance was overshadowed by the battle underway along the Aisne. The U.S. forces held their position with the loss of 1,603 casualties including over 300 killed in action; they captured 250 German prisoners. Matthew B. Juan, a Native American war hero, was killed during this battle.
The American success at Cantigny assured the French that American divisions could be entrusted in the line against the German offensive to take Paris. The victory at Cantigny was followed by attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood in the first half of June.