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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.
WWII - Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Attack on Pearl Harbor
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Description The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan). The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
From the standpoint of the defenders, the attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one were later raised, and six of the eight battleships were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day (December 8), the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been strong, disappeared. Clandestine support of Britain (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Germany and Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
Years later several writers alleged that parties high in the U.S. and British governments knew of the attack in advance and may have let it happen (or even encouraged it) with the aim of bringing America into war. However, this Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is rejected by mainstream historians.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy".
Due to the fact the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a Japanese war crime.