Years of service 1916-1948 Rank Brigadier General | Name Lee Gerow | |
 | ||
Born March 29, 1891Petersburg, Virginia ( 1891-03-29 ) Awards Silver StarLegion of MeritBronze Star Medal (2) Died May 19, 1982, Washington, D.C., United States Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, United States | ||
Allegiance United States of America | ||
Brigadier General Lee Saunders Gerow (March 29, 1891 – May 19, 1982) was a decorated United States Army officer with service in World War I and World War II. He was the younger brother of General Leonard T. Gerow.
Contents
Early military years
Lee was born on March 29, 1891 in Petersburg, Virginia as a son of Leonard Rogers Gerow and Annie Eloise Saunders. He attended the Virginia Military Institute and graduated on June 18, 1913. Gerow did not enter the Army immediately, but first was appointed a Commandant of Bingham Military School in North Carolina. Subsequently he spent some time as Assistant Commandant of Columbia Military Academy in Tennessee, before he was commissioned a Second lieutenant in the Regular Army on November 30, 1916.
He was assigned to the 36th Infantry Regiment in 1916 and was stationed on the Mexican border at Del Rio, Texas during the Pancho Villa Expedition. He was also promoted to the rank of First lieutenant dating back to the November 30, 1916. Subsequently he was transferred to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where he was appointed a Company commander. He was also promoted to the rank of Captain in the next year.
Gerow was promoted to the rank of Major on September 26, 1918 and transferred to the Camp Sherman, Ohio, where he assumed command of 3rd Battalion of the 379th Infantry Regiment. Here Gerow assisted in training of newly activated 95th Infantry Division, which was prepared for deployment overseas. On 11 November, the Armistice with Germany was signed, ending the hostilities. The division's deployment was cancelled and it was demobilized in December 1918.
In January 1919, Gerow was called to Washington, D.C., where he was assigned to the Army Finance Office. His new task was to take charge of the payment of the Bonus granted by Congress to the all honourably discharged soldiers who had served between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1918 in the World War. He stayed in this capacity until June 1920.
Interwar service
Gerow was subsequently sent overseas, where he was assigned to the American Expeditionary Forces, where he was appointed a Commanding officer of the Visitors Bureau, stationed in Koblenz, Germany.
World War II
At the beginning of World War II, Lee Gerow was appointed a commander of the newly activated 338th Infantry Regiment, which was part of the 85th Infantry Division under the command of Major general John B. Coulter. The regiment, which was stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, conducted the Basic infantry training until the end of the year 1943.
He was also promoted to the rank of the Brigadier General in that year and was also appointed Assistant Commanding General of the 85th Infantry Division.
Medals and decorations
Here is the ribbon bar of Brigadier General Lee S. Gerow: