David Ellsworth 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,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and grew up in Lake Ronkonkoma, New York. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

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. In 1949, he departed the

82d 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 hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

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 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 A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in history from the

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

and attended the Advanced Management Course for Executives at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Assignments

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

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

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 (United States), ...

, 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 hostile 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 (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

(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 (U.S. state), Georgia that is dedicated to training Infantry Branch (United States), infantrymen for service in the United States Army. Organization The school ...

; Assistant Division Commander (Support), 4th Infantry Division; Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver), 4th Infantry Division; Chief of Staff, I Corps (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 (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

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

Sixth United States Army Sixth Army is a Theater Army (United States), 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 ...

(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 as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

) and two in Korea (the Battle of Yongju and Operation Tomahawk). 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 (United States Army), Special Forces soldiers in the rank of Colonel (United States), colonel and below, wh ...

(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 a ...

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 United States Army Infantry School, Airborne and Ranger Training Brigade. It is a two-person team competition where competitors ...

" was founded. His son, David L. Grange, 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 S ...

," and was named an honorary

Sergeant Major of the Army The sergeant major of the Army (SMA) is a unique noncommissioned 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
/ref>

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 Officers of the Legion of Honour 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) American 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