Hugh Bryan Hester (August 5, 1895 – November 25, 1983) was U.S. Army
Brigadier General
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
. He was a decorated officer in both World Wars. Later in life, he was a noted critic of U.S. foreign policy.
Education and career
Hugh Hester was born in Hester, North Carolina, and attended the
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...
, graduating in 1917. Hester enlisted in the Army during World War I and became a second lieutenant in the 12th Field Artillery of the
2nd Infantry Division. In 1918, he was promoted to
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and participated in the occupation of Germany in 1919. He was wounded in action and was awarded 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 ...
and the
Croix de Guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
.
After the war, Hester worked as an ROTC instructor (1924–1928) at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
. In the 1930s, he joined the Quartermaster's Corps, working in New Mexico, and gaining the rank of
colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
. A career officer in the army, he served under
General MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
in the Pacific Theater, in supply and procurement (1942–1945). After the war, he became chief of the U.S. Food and Agriculture Program in Germany. This led to the award of the French
Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
. In 1947-48, Hester was appointed the
military attache
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...
to Australia. He worked as commanding General of the
Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot
The Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot, now known as the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, was founded as the Schuylkill Arsenal in 1799.
History
The Schuylkill Arsenal was built in 1800 to function as a quartermaster and provide the U.S. mil ...
until his retirement as a
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
in 1951.
Later years
After retirement from the Army, Hester studied at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, and
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, preside ...
, in the areas of law and international relations, but did not earn a degree. Hester was an outspoken opponent of U.S. foreign policy for the remainder of his life. In the summer of 1957, he took a 12,000 mile trip through the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. He met with
Nikita Kruschev and advocated for peace in
letters
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
to the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
multiple time. In 1959, he published a book, "On the Brink", with sociologist
Jerome Davis. It expressed concerns about the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
and suggested that new U.S. policies were needed. Hester was a common speaker at peace rallies in the 1960s and authored many opinion and editorial pieces. He was a special correspondent for
The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
, The Churchman, and U.S. Farm News, as well as a speaker on the lecture circuit. General Hester was designated the honorary commander of a
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) is an American tax-exempt non-profit organization and corporation founded in 1967 to oppose the United States policy and participation in the Vietnam War. VVAW says it is a national veterans' organization ...
protest march in 1970. In 1971, he published "Twenty-Six Disastrous Years" which criticized U.S. foreign policy. Hester argued for disarmament, weapons control, and world government.
He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a
world constitution
A world constitution refers to a proposed framework or document aimed at establishing a system of global governance. It seeks to provide a set of principles, structures, and laws to govern the relationships between states and address global iss ...
. As a result, for the first time in human history, a
World Constituent Assembly
The World Constitutional Convention (WCC), also known as the World Constituent Assembly (WCA) or the First World Constituent Assembly, took place in Interlaken, Switzerland and Wolfach, Germany, 1968. The convention aimed to foster global coopera ...
convened to draft and adopt the
Constitution for the Federation of Earth
A world constitution refers to a proposed framework or document aimed at establishing a system of global governance. It seeks to provide a set of principles, structures, and laws to govern the relationships between states and address global iss ...
.
Personal life
Hester was born in Hester, North Carolina on August 5, 1895 to William Alexander Hester and Marietta Bullock (Hester). He married Pauline Hester Green in 1935. She died in 1980. Hugh Hester died of cancer at
Oteen Veterans Administration Hospital in
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
on November 25, 1983.
In 1987, his estate endowed the Hester Center of Peace and Justice at
Mars Hill University
Mars Hill University is a private Christian university in Mars Hill, North Carolina. The university offers 35 undergraduate majors and includes a school of nursing and graduate schools in education, criminal justice, and management. From 1859 to ...
.
References
External links
Hugh B. Hesterat D.H. Ramsey Library, University of North Carolina at Asheville
Hugh B. Hesterat Joyner Library, East Carolina University
at Granville County, North Carolina, U.S. GenWeb Project
Hugh B. Hester Papers 1an
Hugh B. Hester Papers 2at Clemson University Special Collections Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hester, Hugh B.
1895 births
1983 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War I
United States Army personnel of World War II
Military history of the Philippines
United States Army generals
American anti–Vietnam War activists
Recipients of the Silver Star
World Constitutional Convention call signatories