Carter Bowie Magruder (April 3, 1900March 14, 1988) was a

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 ...

general who served concurrently as Commander in Chief,

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first a ...

/Commander,

United States Forces Korea United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a ...

/Commanding General,

Eighth United States Army The Eighth Army is a U.S. field army which is the commanding formation of all United States Army forces in South Korea. It commands U.S. and South Korean units and is headquartered at the Camp Humphreys,

Early life and education

Carter Bowie Magruder (1900–1988) at West Point in 1923

Magruder was born in London, United Kingdom, where his father, Dr. George Mason Magruder, was serving with the

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

. Magruder's later returned to the U.S. and settled in Albemarle, Virginia, where young Carter graduated from the high school. At the time of the U.S. entry into World War I, he was attending the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. He dropped out of college and after period of training at the Officers Training Camp in Plattsburgh, New York, he was commissioned an infantry second lieutenant on September 16, 1918. With the end of the war, Magruder accepted an appointment to the

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 ...

. Upon graduation in 1923, he was commissioned in the field artillery. Later he attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

and received a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1932. Prior to World War II, he served at various posts and assignments and also attended 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 Army War College.

World War II

In June 1941, Magruder was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for logistics (G-4),

War Department General Staff The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, where he served under then-Major General Brehon B. Somervell. During his service there, Magruder was promoted to lieutenant colonel on December 21, 1941. Upon the creation of Army Service Forces under General Somervell in March 1942, Magruder was appointed Director of Planning Division, Army Service Forces and was promoted to colonel on December 12, 1942. While in this capacity, he planned and supervised the logistic support from the United States for overseas operations and gained the reputation of Army's top logistician. Magruder was present at the Casablanca,

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

, and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

conferences and later was decorated with Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service in this capacity. Following the promotion to brigadier general on August 13, 1944, Magruder was ordered overseas and assumed duty as Assistant Chief of Staff for logistics (G-4) on the staff of Commanding General, Mediterranean Theater of Operations,

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

. He was in charge of supply, transportation, and construction in that theater, stationed in

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and was promoted to major general on March 24, 1945. Magruder later received his second Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service in the Mediterranean and also was decorated by the governments of

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and

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Postwar service

In November 1945, Magruder was transferred to the European Theater of Operations and assumed duty as Chief of Staff,

Services of Supply The Services of Supply or "SOS" branch of the Army of the USA was created on 28 February 1942 by Executive Order Number 9082 "Reorganizing the Army and the War Department" and War Department Circular No. 59, dated 2 March 1942. Services of Supp ...

under Lieutenant General John C. H. Lee. He later succeeded Lee and upon the reorganization of postwar allied forces, Magruder assumed duty as Assistant Chief of Staff for logistics (G-4),

United States European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russi ...

under General Joseph T. McNarney. While in this capacity, Magruder was stationed in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and was charged with the destruction of German equipment and fortifications, the repatriation of slave labor and displaced persons and the release of prisoners of war. He later served as Chief of Staff of the European Command under General

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

until March 1949, when he returned to the United States for duty at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

. Magruder served as deputy to the

Assistant Secretary of the Army Assistant Secretary of the Army is a title used to describe various civilian officials in the United States Department of the Army. Present Assistant Secretaries of the Army At present, there are five offices bearing the title of Assistant Secret ...

, Tracy Voorhees. Magruder then served as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics until November 1953, when he was ordered to the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

for duty as commanding general, 24th Infantry Division and in 1954 was promoted to lieutenant general. He then assumed command of

IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial Germ ...

and returned to the United States in 1955 for duty as Assistant Chief of Staff of the Army for Logistics, the highest logistics position in the Army. Promoted to full general in 1959, Magruder returned to Korea to command all United Nations and U.S. forces. During his command, a

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

led by Park Chung-hee overthrew the elected premier, John Chang. Magruder was publicly criticized by retired General

James Van Fleet General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...

for ordering South Korean officers to stay loyal to the civilian government. Van Fleet, who supported the coup, said that Magruder "acted illegally", and:

Those ROK generals who refused to go along with the coup should have disobeyed his order ... It's all right to talk about representative government, but except in great countries like the U.S. and Great Britain, such a system lets elements get into the government and destroy it in underdeveloped countries where the enemy is lurking.

Magruder retired from the Army in June 1961 after almost 43 years of active service and received his third Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service as commanding general, United Nations Command in Korea.

Later life and death

After retiring from the Army, Magruder worked as a logistics consultant to the Department of Defense and private industry. He settled in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

, and was a member of the Army-Navy Country Club and the Society of the Cincinnati. He died at the age of 87 of lung ailments on March 14, 1988, at

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, it se ...

and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. His wife, Luella Johnson Magruder (1907–1991) was buried with him in 1991.Burial Detail: Magruder, Carter B
– ANC Explorer

Decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of General Magruder:

Notes

External links

at ArlingtonCemetery.net, an unofficial website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magruder, Carter B. 1900 births 1988 deaths United States Army generals United States Army personnel of the Korean War Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) United States Military Academy alumni Purdue University College of Engineering alumni United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Commanders, United States Forces Korea United States Army generals of World War II