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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 - European Theater of Operations/Ardennes Alsace Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of the Bulge
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
January / 1945
Description The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. Hitler planned the offensive with the primary goal to recapture the important harbour of Antwerp. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred the highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources.
The battle was known by different names. The Germans referred to it as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ("Operation Watch on the Rhine"), while the French named it the Bataille des Ardennes ("Battle of the Ardennes"). The Allies called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was coined by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and became the best known name for the battle.
The German offensive was supported by several subordinate operations known as Unternehmen Bodenplatte, Greif, and Währung. As well as stopping Allied transport over the channel to the harbor of Antwerp, Germany also hoped these operations would split the British and American Allied line in half, and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers' favor. Once that was accomplished, Hitler could fully concentrate on the eastern theatre of war.
The offensive was planned by the German forces with the utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and moving troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Despite their efforts to keep it secret, the Third U.S. Army's intelligence staff predicted a major German offensive, and Ultra indicated that a "substantial and offensive" operation was expected or "in the wind", although a precise date or point of attack could not be given. Aircraft movement from the Russian Front and transport of forces by rail, both to the Ardennes, was noticed but not acted upon, according to a report later written by Peter Calvocoressi and F. L. Lucas at the codebreaking centre Bletchley Park.
Near-complete surprise was achieved by a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions, which grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive around Elsenborn Ridge and in the south around Bastogne blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success; columns that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This and terrain that favored the defenders threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.
About 610,000 American forces were involved in the battle,[2] and 89,000 were casualties, including 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.
