Truman Everett

Truman Boudinot, born 02-09-1895 in Hamilton, Iowa, saw service on the Mexican border in Texas with the 8^th Cavalry during World War I. In March of 1942 he took command of the 32^rd nd Armoured Regiment, 3^rd Armoured Division. He commanded the regiment until July 15, 1944, when he assumed command of Combat Command B, 3^rd  Armoured Division. The Third Armored Division, nicknamed the Third Herd, was organized as a "heavy" armoured division, as was its counterpart, the Second Armored Division also called "Hell on Wheels".   He commanded CCB for the duration of the war and commanded the division during June and July of 1945.   He later assumed command of the 7^th Armoured Division   and commanded it until it inactivated in October of 1945. The 7^{th  D} Division was activated on 01-03-1942, reorganized on 20-09-1943 and arrived in the United Kingdom in June 1944 . . The 7^th  was preparing to drive into Germany when the Ardennes offensive began on 16-12- December 1944, Battle of the Bulge. The Division was transferred to US First Army under Courtney Hicks Hodges (see Hodges) and ordered to St. vith, Belgium.  Like Combat Command "A", the story of CC "B" is the history of the 3^rd  Armored Division   . Under Brigadier General Truman E. Boudinot, the volatile California horseman, tanker, and one-time army free balloon racer, Combat Command "B" fought many of the hardest and most successful actions ever engaged in by Spearhead" forces. CC "B" totted up a record of successive victories throughout the entire western campaign. As with most American divisions in World War II, the 3^rd  Armored suffered heavy casualties and by the end of the war replacement troops often outnumbered veterans in the line units. From Normandy to the Elbe, General Boudinot led this big, versatile command to final victory.

The 3^rd   Armored Division had 231 days of combat in World War II, with a total of 2,540 killed, 7,331 wounded, 95 missing, and 139 captured. Total battle and non-battle casualties came to 16,122. The 3^rd Armored Division lost more tanks in combat than any other U.S. division. Combat Command A lost more tanks than any other unit in the 3^rd   Armored Division. 

     The commander of the 3^rd Division, Major General Maurice Rose, (see Rose) famed as one of few commanding Generals to frequent the front lines during combat, was shot on 31-03-1945 in an ambush, near Heidelberg. General Boudinot was retired in December of 1945. His military decorations include the Silver Star with 3 oak leaf clusters, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal, the French Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre. General Boudinot died shortly after the end of the war at the age of 50, on 11-12-1945. He is buried with his wife Lolita, born Sargent, who died age 80 in 1975, on Arlington Cemetery in Section 3, only a few steps from the grave of Anthony McAuliffe, famous from Bastogne (see McAuliffe), saying "Nuts" to the surrounding German Forces and General Charles Bonesteel III (see Bonesteel) and Charles Bonesteel Jr. (see Bonesteel Jr), Hugh Casey (see Casey), Adna Chaffee (see Chaffee), Hugh Drum (see Drum), Manton Eddy (see Eddy), Daniel Gallery (see Gallery, Thomas Larkin (see Larkin) and Randolph Pate (see Pate). His wife, Lolita Sargent Boudinot (1895-1975) is buried with him.