Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" Quinn (November 1, 1907 – September 11, 2000) was a

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 ...

officer, who served in intelligence during

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 opposin ...

. Born in Crisfield,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, Maryland and a 1933 graduate of West Point, Quinn retired as a lieutenant general on March 1, 1966 as the commanding general of the

Seventh United States Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...

. He died in Washington, DC at

Walter Reed Army Hospital The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and reti ...

at 92 years old.

Education

Quinn graduated from Crisfield High with the class of 1925 and then from

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

with the class of 1933, and in 1938 attended

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 ...

. In 1942 he graduated from

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 ...

. In August 1947 he graduated from the

National War College The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National War Colle ...

Commands held

From 1933–1935 at Fort McKinley Quinn was the commanding officer of Company L, 5th Infantry Regiment. 1935–1936 General Quinn was assigned to Company D and then from 1936–1938 assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 31st Infantry Regiment. In 1940 he was the Command of Headquarters Company of the 4th Infantry Division, and the Commanding Officers of Company D, 8th Infantry Division. In July 1942 he became the Chief of Staff of the G-2, IV Army Corps. In 1949 Quinn was the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment. In April 1949 he became Chief of the Training Sub-section,

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 Arm ...

. In January 1950 he became the Assistant Chief of Staff of the G-3, I Corps from February to March. In January 1951, Quinn was the Commanding Officer of the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division in Korea. In 1952 Quinn became the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Pentagon and Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning Coordination of the Office of Chief of Staff, and then eventually became the Chief of Staff of the Pentagon. In 1953 Quinn was transferred to Greece and to be the Head of the Army Section, Joint Military Aid Group to Greece. In January 1957 he was the Commanding Officer of the 4th Infantry Division of the Strategic Army Corps at Fort Lewis. In July 1958 he became the Deputy Chief of Staff for the G-2 Intelligence of the United States Army. From 1959–1961, Quinn served as the Army's Chief of Information, and in 1959 he became the Chief of Public Information of the Department of the Army. In 1961 Quinn became the Deputy Director of the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...

and promoted to lieutenant general. From 1964–1966, Quinn was the Commanding General of the

United States Army Europe United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

and

, commonly referred to as 7th Army, in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany. On March 1, 1966 Quinn retired and became Honorary Colonel of the 17th Infantry, nicknamed "The Buffalos". Following his retirement from the Army, he served as chief of operations of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

World War II

Quinn participated in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

and on January 1, 1945 he was part of

Operation Northwind Operation Northwind (german: Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by December ...

. He helped liberate the

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

, later saying "'the atrocities ��were just too horrible to describe." Seeing the need to document and preserve what he saw, Quinn commissioned the Dachau report.

Korea

Quinn was in Korea from 1951 to 1952 and in August 1951 Quinn was wounded in Korea. While in Korea he was awarded the Silver Star, Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star with the "V" Device. He was also in the

Battle of Inchon The Battle of Incheon (), also spelled Battle of Inchon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved so ...

. While he was in Korea he was the commanding Officer of the 17th Infantry Regiment which was part of the 7th Infantry Division (the 17th Infantry was, and still is, nicknamed "the Buffalos").

Occupations

He was Vice President of the Aerospace Group program at

Martin Marietta Corporation The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...

until 1972; and then afterwards he established Quinn Associates, a consulting firm.

Awards and decorations

Personal

Quinn was married to Sara Bette Williams, who is buried next to him at Arlington National Cemetery. Together they had three children: Donna, William Jr., and

Sally Quinn Sally Sterling Quinn (born July 1, 1941) is an American author and journalist, who writes about religion for a blog at ''The Washington Post''. Early life Sally Quinn was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Lt. General William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" ...

References

External links

Arlington National Cemetery

Quinn portrait from Fort Lewis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, William Wilson 1907 births 2000 deaths Military personnel from Maryland Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Martin Marietta people Military intelligence People from Crisfield, Maryland Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army generals United States Army personnel of World War II