David E. Grange Jr. (April 9, 1925 – September 11, 2022) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army.

Early life

Grange was born on April 9, 1925, in

Richmond Hill, New York Richmond Hill is a commercial and residential neighborhood located in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. The area borders Kew Gardens and Forest Park to the north, Jamaica and South Jamaica to the east, South Ozone P ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and grew up in

Lake Ronkonkoma, New York Lake Ronkonkoma is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 20,155 at the 2010 census. Lake Ronkonkoma is mainly located in the Town of Brookhaven, but has ...

. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in June 1943 and served as an enlisted parachute infantryman in Europe, taking part in the Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and

Central Europe Campaign The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine, a series of offensi ...

s as a member of the

517th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment (517th PIR) was an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, formed during World War II. At times the regiment was attached to the 17th Airborne Division, 82nd Airborne Division and later, the ...

. In 1949, he departed the

82d Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from thorig ...

to attend Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry in 1950, with an initial assignment with the

187th Airborne Infantry Regiment The 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment (Rakkasans) is a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. , the 1st and 3rd battalions are the only active elements of the regiment; they are assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Divisi ...

in Korea.

Education

Grange was a graduate of the Strategic Intelligence Course, the Russian language course at the

Defense Language Institute The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other f ...

, the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

, and the Army War College. He held a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in History from the

University of Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (Omaha or UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was originally kno ...

and has attended the Advanced Management Course for Executives at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

Assignments

Grange served in a variety of assignments, including: two tours in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

as a Rifle Platoon Leader (1950–51) and Rifle Company Commander (1952–53); Ranger Instructor; Staff Officer, Department of the Army Staff, Pentagon;

10th Special Forces Group The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (10th SFG (A), or 10th Group) is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) Group. 10th Group is designed to deploy and execute nine doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare (UW), foreign in ...

, Germany (1957–60); Advisor in the Republic of Vietnam (1st tour) (1963–64); AcofS, G1,

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

; Commander 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry (Vietnam) (2nd tour) (1967–68); Commander, DISCOM,

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

(Vietnam) (3rd tour) (1970–71); Commander, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Vietnam) (3rd tour) (1970–71); Director, Ranger Department,

United States Army Infantry School The United States Army Infantry School is a school located at Fort Benning, Georgia that is dedicated to training infantrymen for service in the United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United State ...

; Assistant Division Commander (Support), 4th Infantry Division; Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver), 4th Infantry Division; Chief of Staff,

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

(ROK/US Group), Korea. Toward the end of his career, Grange served in a variety of high level command assignments including Commanding General, United States Army Readiness and Mobilization Region VIII (1976–78); Commanding General, 2nd Infantry Division, Korea (1978–79); Commanding General,

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, Georgia (1979–81); and, finally, Commanding General,

Sixth United States Army Sixth Army is a theater army of the United States Army. The Army service component command of United States Southern Command, its area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central and South America and t ...

(1981–84). Grange retired in June 1984, after 41 years of service. Grange is among the few paratroopers in United States Army history to make three combat jumps—one during World War II (

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

) and two in Korea (the

Battle of Yongju The Battle of Yongyu (), also known as the Battle of the Apple Orchard or the Battle of Yongju to the Australians who fought in it, took place between 21 and 22 October 1950 during the United Nations Command (UNC) UN offensive into North Korea, ...

and

Operation Tomahawk Operation Tomahawk was an airborne military operation by the 187th Regimental Combat Team (187th RCT) on 23 March 1951 at Munsan-ni as part of Operation Courageous in the Korean War. Operation Courageous was designed to trap large numbers of Chine ...

). His other distinctions include three awards each of the

Combat Infantryman Badge The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is a United States Army military decoration. The badge is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers in the rank of colonel and below, who fought in active ground combat while assigned as members of ei ...

(for World War II, Korea and Vietnam) and the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

for heroism in combat.

Personal life and legacy

In 1982, the annual "David E. Grange Jr.

Best Ranger Competition The David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition is an annual competition held in Fort Benning, Georgia, hosted by the Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. It is a two-man team competition where competitors must be active military who are Ranger ...

" was founded. His son,

David L. Grange David L. Grange (born December 29, 1947) is a retired United States Army major general. He served with the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War. He was later assigned to Delta Force, commanding a squadron during the invasion of Grenada ...

, also went on to serve as a United States Army general officer. Grange died on September 11, 2022, at the age of 97.

Awards and decorations

Lieutenant General Grange's numerous decorations, medals and badges include: General Grange was an inaugural member of the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame and the U.S. Army Officer Candidate Hall of Fame. He was selected as 1984 Airborne Trooper of the Year by the Airborne Association, was the 1994 recipient of the Infantry's "

Doughboy Award Order of Saint Maurice was established in 1996 in the pattern of the Cavalry & Armor Association's Saint George Award, Order of St. George Medallion and is awarded by the National Infantry Association and the certificate is signed by the United St ...

," and was named an honorary

Sergeant Major of the Army The Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) is a unique non-commissioned rank and position of office in the United States Army. The holder of this rank and position is the most senior enlisted soldier in the Army, unless an enlisted soldier is servin ...

by the

Association of the United States Army The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is a private, non-profit organization that serves as the professional association of the United States Army. Founded in 1950, it has 121 chapters worldwide. Membership is open to everyone, not ju ...

in 2016.Legendary Ranger Is This Year's Honorary Sergeant Major Of The Army
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grange, David E. Jr. 1925 births 2022 deaths United States Army generals United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam) Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Soldier's Medal People from Lake Ronkonkoma, New York People from Richmond Hill, Queens Military personnel from New York City United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni University of Nebraska Omaha alumni Defense Language Institute alumni American expatriates in Germany