Paul L. Freeman Jr.

{{Infobox military person

| name = Paul L. Freeman Jr.

| image = GEN Paul L. Freeman Jr. (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = General Paul L. Freeman Jr.

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|06|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Philippines

| death_date = {{death date and age|1988|04|17|1907|06|29|df=y}}

| death_place = Monterey California

| placeofburial =

| allegiance = United States

| branch = United States Army

| serviceyears = 1929–1967

| rank = General

| servicenumber =

| unit =

| commands = United States Army Europe
Continental Army Command
4th Infantry Division
2nd Infantry Division
23rd Infantry Regiment

| battles = World War II
Korean War
Vietnam War

| awards = Distinguished Service Cross
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Silver Star (2)
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal "V" device (4)
Air Medal
Purple Heart

| relations =

| laterwork =

}}

Paul Lamar Freeman Jr. (29 June 1907 – 17 April 1988) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Commander in Chief, United States Army Europe/Commander, Central Army Group from 1962 to 1965 and Commanding General, Continental Army Command from 1965 to 1967.

Military career

File:U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara visited Rhein-Main Air Base at Frankfurt Germany.jpg Robert McNamara and U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. McConnell during Freeman tenure as Commanding General, United States Army Europe, at Rhein-Main Air Force Base in Frankfurt, Germany, 7 March 1965]]

Freeman was born 29 June 1907, in the Philippine Islands, son of Paul Lamar and Emma (Rosenbaum) Freeman. He graduated from the United States Military Academy on 13 June 1929, with a class ranking of 213 and commissioned in the infantry. His first assignment was at Fort Sam Houston with the 9th Infantry Regiment. While in Texas, he married Mary Ann Fishburn on 18 August 1932, and had one daughter. A month after getting married, he reported to Fort Benning to attend the Officer's Course at the Infantry School, then was assigned to Tianjin (then called Tientsin) in China with the 15th Infantry Regiment until 1936. Upon his return to the United States he was assigned to Fort Washington, Maryland and was a company commander in the 12th Infantry Regiment, and subsequently returned to Fort Benning for the Tank Course. He then spent a year as company and battalion Maintenance Officer with the 66th Infantry Regiment.

File:Freeman Cam Ranh Bay Depot.PNG Supply Depot, 1967]]

At the time of the United States entry into World War II, Freeman was in China again, in Beijing as a language student and concurrently as Assistant Military Attaché at the American embassy. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to the United States Military Mission to China, and a few months later reassigned to the staff of the China India Burma Theater as an instructor to Chinese and Indian Armies. He remained on the theater staff until September 1943, when he returned to Washington D.C., as a staff officer. Towards the end of the war in late 1944, he was sent to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as Director of Arms Training for the Joint Brazil-United States Military Commission, a position he held until October 1947. He returned to the Army General Staff in Washington D.C., working in the Latin American Branch of the Plans and Operating Division, then from 1948 to 1950, served as a member of the Joint Brazil-United States Military Commission, and was also a member of the United States Army delegation to the Inter-American Defense Board.

With the outbreak of the Korean War, Freeman was deployed to that theater as the Commander of the 23rd Infantry Regiment in the 2nd Infantry Division. He led the regiment in the retreat from Kunu-ri in November 1950. In early February he led the 23rd Regimental Combat Team in the Battle of the Twin Tunnels on 1 February 1951 and then at Battle of Chipyong-ni from 13 to 15 February 1951. At Chipyong-ni the 23rd RCT was cut off and surrounded by elements of five Chinese divisions, which launched fanatical all-out assaults against them. He was wounded on the first night of the engagement by mortar shrapnel in his left calf. Although he expected to return to the 23rd Infantry Regiment after his wounds healed, he did not resume command of the regiment, having been returned to the US to recover.

Returning from the war, he attended the National War College, graduating in 1952. In 1955, he assumed command of the 2nd Infantry Division, and in 1956 took command of the 4th Infantry Division, at that time stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. After his second division command ended in 1957, he served as Senior Army Member to the Weapons System Evaluation Group in Washington D.C. He was named Deputy Commanding General for Reserve Forces (CONARC) in 1960. On 1 May 1962 he received his fourth star, and assumed duties as Commander in Chief, United States Army Europe/Commander, Central Army Group, serving in that capacity until 1965. His final assignment was Commanding General, United States Continental Army Command from 1965 to 1967.

Freeman retired from the army in 1967, and died in Monterey California on 17 April 1988.

Awards and decorations

;Badges

60px Combat Infantryman Badge with second award
60px Parachutist Badge
60px Army Staff Identification Badge

;Decorations

60px Distinguished Service Cross
60px Army Distinguished Service Medal
60px Silver Star with one oak leaf cluster
60px Legion of Merit
60px Bronze Star Medal with three oak leaf clusters and "V" device
60px Air Medal
60px Purple Heart

;Service Medals

60px American Defense Service Medal with star
60px American Campaign Medal
60px Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four campaign stars and arrowhead device
60px World War II Victory Medal
60px Army of Occupation Medal
60px National Defense Service Medal with star
60px Korean Service Medal with four campaign stars

;Foreign Awards

60px Brazilian Order of Military Merit (Ordem do Mérito Militar)
60px French Legion of Honor in degree of commander
60px French Croix de Guerre with palm
60px Philippine Liberation Medal with two stars
60px United Nations Korea Medal

;Unit Awards

References

External links

{{cite book|title=The Forgotten War: America in Korea, 1950–1953|first=Clay|last=Blair|edition=illustrated, reprint|year=2003|publisher=Naval Institute Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-afAAAAMAAJ|isbn=1591140757|access-date=18 April 2014| ref = {{harvid|}} }}
{{cite book|title=The forgotten war: America in Korea, 1950|first=Clay|last=Blair|date=Dec 12, 1987|publisher=Times Books|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nYlxAAAAMAAJ|isbn=0812916700|access-date=18 April 2014| ref = {{harvid|}} }}
{{cite book|author=David Halberstam|title=The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2WCZAAAAQBAJ |date=25 September 2007|publisher=Hachette Books|isbn=978-1-4013-8964-2}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20020610062924/http://www.militariamuseum.com/collection/Freeman/freeman.htm Militaria Museum fact sheet]

{{succession box

| title=Commanding General of United States Army Europe

| before= Bruce C. Clarke

| years= 1 May 1962 to 18 March 1965

| after= Andrew P. O'Meara

}}

Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour

Category:1907 births

Category:1988 deaths

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War

Category:United States Army generals