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Grouping of Brigadier General Gerald A. Counts


LYONSJ9
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Grouping of Brigadier General Gerald A. Counts:

 

Career officer, esteemed professor, engineer, and Dean of the West Point Academic Board.

 

Gerald Counts was born in 1895 to a well respected family in Ranger, Texas. After moving to Long Beach, California at the turn of the century, Counts would receive an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point, and would graduate with honors in 1917 (just in time for America’s involvement in WWI).

 

Counts was assigned to the 6th Engineer Regiment of the 3rd Division, and would see heavy action during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the Defense of Verdun, receiving two Battle Clasps to his Victory Medal and the 1914-18 French Croix d’Guerre (which he chose to leave off of his ribbon bar for reasons unknown).

 

After pursuing his Masters of Engineering from MIT and CIT, he would begin a 34 year career as a professor at West Point, which would see him rise to Chair of the Physics and Mathematics Departments and as Dean of the Academic Board. His 34 years at West Point would only be interrupted by his involvement in the Second World War.

 

After America entered WWII, Counts would be placed in various planning roles until being assigned to the Engineering Section of Omar Bradley’s 12th Army Group in 1944, where he would again see heavy action at Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes, and Central Europe, which resulted in his award of the Bronze Star (among many other awards) being personally presented by General Bradley.

 

After the allied victory in Europe, Counts would remain in the 12th Army Group on occupation duties in Wiesbaden, Germany, where his expertise in Engineering was utilized in the reconstruction of Germany.

 

Counts would return to West Point in the late 1940’s, and would continue as a Professor, Department Chair, and Dean of the Academic Board until retiring in 1959 as the oldest active duty officer in the entire US Army. Unfortunately, Counts would pass away four years later in 1964, and would be buried with military honors at his beloved West Point. He was 68.

 

His awards include:

Three Legions of Merit (denoted by Oak Leaf Clusters *), the Bronze Star, WWI Victory Medal (with two Campaign Bars), WWI Occupation Medal, American Defense Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-North African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with 5 Campaign Stars), WWII Victory Medal, WWII Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, French Legion of Honor, *, WWII French Croix d’Guerre (with Palm), Member of the Order of the British Empire, the Luxembourgish Order of the Oak Crown, the Belgian Order of Leopold (with Palm), and the Belgian Croix d’Guerre (with Palm).

 

*not shown on ribbon bar:

 

WWI French Croix d’Guerre

Second Oak Leaf Cluster on Legion of Merit

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