John Gibson Van Houten (1904-1974) served as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and was an important figure in the rebirth of the

United States Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He was a commanding officer of the 60th Infantry Regiment and Chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. At the start of the Korean War, he was picked by J. Lawton Collins to create an Airborne Ranger Training Program at Fort Benning in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Towards the end of his career he served as commander of the 8th Infantry Division and as Commander of the

United States Army Military District of Washington The United States Army Military District of Washington (MDW) is one of nineteen major commands of the United States Army. Its headquarters are located at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. The missions of the units in the Military Distri ...

. Born in

, Van Houten earned a B.S. in agriculture from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 1926. He was commissioned as a reserve cavalry officer on May 31, 1926 and entered the regular army infantry on September 17, 1926. Van Houten graduated from the National War College in 1949. Van Houten retired from active duty on June 30, 1961. After his death in 1974, he was interred at

Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of 2014, had over 144,000 interme ...

. Van Houten was posthumously inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2006.

References

1904 births 1974 deaths University of Georgia alumni Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) United States Army Rangers United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army personnel of the Korean War Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Burials at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery {{US-army-bio-stub