John C. Arrowsmith

John Caraway Arrowsmith
Born (1894-06-04)June 4, 1894
Reno, Nevada
Died June 1, 1985(1985-06-01) (aged 90)
Asheville, North Carolina
Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United StatesUnited States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Rank Brigadier General
Battles/wars World War I
World War II
Awards Legion of Merit (2)
Bronze Star Medal

John Caraway Arrowsmith (June 4, 1894 Reno, Nevada - June 1, 1985 Asheville, North Carolina[1]) was a Brigadier general in the United States Army Corps of Engineers, commanding the 45th Engineers in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations during World War II.[2]

Arrowsmith was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in 1918, promoted to 1st Lieutenant in 1919, while stationed at Camp Fremont, CA. During the 1920s he was detailed to the 3rd Engineer Regiment, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the 2nd Cincinnati Engineer District, and the 13th Engineer Regiment, Camp Humphreys, Va. From 1930 to 1933 he was assigned to the San Francisco Engineer District, and promoted to Captain in 1933. He was detailed to the Office of the Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C. from April 1933 to July 1938, when he was assigned to the Missouri River Division, COE. He was promoted to Major in 1940, and Lieutenant Colonel in 1942, when he was sent to Camp Blanding, Fla. as commander of the 45th Engineer General Service Regiment. In Nov. 1942 he went with these troops to India, where Arrowsmith was placed in command of Base Section 3 in Ledo, Assam, which was responsible for construction of the Ledo Road. Under Arrowsmith's command, the road reached the Patkai mountains and crossed into Burma.[2] Stillwell, while recognizing the problems that diversion of roadbuilding assets to airfield construction had caused, was still unsatisfied with progress and began searching for a replacement. Lewis A. Pick replaced him as Chief Road Engineer in October 1943, but retained command of the 45th Eng, GSR. While Arrowsmith received a temporary promotion in July 1943 to Brigadier General, he reverted to Colonel in Jan. 1944. In Feb. 1944 he was detailed to the XXI Corps as Corps Engineer at Camp Polk, La., later accompanying these troops into France and Germany.

From Sept. 1945 to Nov. 1947 he was assigned to the U.S. Office of Military Government for Germany. From Jan. 1948 to Oct. 1949 he was commanding officer of the Engineer Research and Development Laboratories at Fort Belvoir. In Nov. 1949 he received his last assignment as a Deputy Chief in the Army Security Agency. He retired from the military in May 1953 as a Brigadier General. He died in 1985 and was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.[2]

Decorations

Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster
Bronze Star Medal
Army Commendation Medal
World War I Victory Medal
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three Service Stars
Bronze star
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one Service Star
World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Croix de Guerre 1939-1945 with Palm (France)

References

  1. "Officers of the US Army 1939-1945". unithistories.com. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "John Caraway Arrowsmith, Brigadier General, United States Army". arlingtoncemetery.net. Retrieved 18 June 2010.


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