Years of service 1943–1970 | Name George Dunaway | |
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Born July 24, 1922
Richmond, Virginia ( 1922-07-24 ) Battles/wars World War II
Vietnam War Died February 6, 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Rank Sergeant Major of the Army Awards Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal | ||
Service/branch United States Army Battles and wars World War II, Vietnam War Allegiance United States of America | ||
George W. Dunaway Top # 11 Facts
George W. Dunaway (July 24, 1922 – February 6, 2008) was the second Sergeant Major of the Army. He was sworn in on September 1, 1968 and served until his term ended in September 1970. He was born in Richmond, Virginia, on July 24, 1922 and died on February 6, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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After attending the Airborne Course in August 1943, Sergeant Major Dunaway remained at Fort Benning, Georgia as an Airborne School Instructor until January 1945 when he joined the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team in France as a platoon sergeant. He returned to Fort Benning in December 1945 with assignment to the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion where he served as first sergeant of Company A. (Inactivated in Germany on 20 August 1945, the 501PIR was reactivated at Fort Benning from 1 August 1946 to 23 November 1948 as the 501PIB.) In March 1948, Sergeant Major Dunaway was reassigned to the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There he became a member of the 505th Airborne Infantry Regiment as Operations Sergeant, ascending to the Regimental Sergeant Major position in 1952.
In early 1954 he transferred to the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team as the Combat Team Sergeant Major. He continued in that position for seven years during which he saw the lineage of the 187th ARCT reorganized and redesignated as the 187th Infantry, when the 101st Airborne Division was reactivated on September 21, 1956, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which included the 2d Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry as one of the division's five battle groups. Departing Fort Campbell in 1961, he took the reins of the 1st Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces in United States Army Pacific and later moved to the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam, where he remained until June 1967.
Returning to the United States, he re-joined the 101st Airborne Division as it prepared to move to Vietnam in the largest unit deployment by air in the history of the Vietnam War. Sergeant Major Dunaway arrived in Vietnam with the commanding general's command group on December 13, 1967. In February 1968, he moved to Camp Eagle in the I Corps Tactical Zone with the division where he remained until July 1968 when he was selected as the second Sergeant Major of the Army.
Awards and decorations
