Paul, Willard Stewart.

Paul, Willard Stewart, born 28-02-1894 in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Warrington Irving Paul and his wife Etta M. Paul, attended Clark University in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and American University in Washington, D.C. In 1916 Paul joined the Colorado National Guard as a Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery to serve on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa Expedition.

  He received a commission in the regular Army in 1917. During World War I he served at Camp Merritt, New Jersey. Paul graduated from the Infantry Officers Course in 1921. From 1922 to 1924 he was assistant professor of military science for the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Johns Hopkins University, from which he received a bachelor of science degree in 1924. Paul was a 1930 graduate of the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, and was an instructor at the Infantry School from 1930 to 1933. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1935, and the Army War College in 1937. He was assigned to the Staff of the Adjutant General’s Department, 1937 to 1941, and in 1942 he received a master of arts degree from American University. In 1942 Paul was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, G-4, Headquarters Army Ground Forces (HAGF), receiving promotion to Major General. In 1943 he was commander of the 75^th Infantry Division  during its stateside training, and then assumed command of the 26^{th “}Yankee” Infantry Division . General Paul led the 26^th Division during the Battle of the Bulge, and played an important role in Third Army’s counterattack that reduced the German salient. The 26^th Infantry Division was an Infantry Division of the United States Army. As a major formation of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, it was based in Boston, Massachusetts for most of its history. Today, the division’s heritage is carried on by the 26^th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Formed in 1917 consisting of units from the New England area, the division’s commander selected the nickname “Yankee Division” to highlight the division’s geographic makeup. Sent to Europe in World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Force, the division saw extensive combat in France. Sent to Europe once again for World War II, the division again fought through France, advancing into Germany and liberating the Gusen concentration camp before the end of the war. Following the end of World War II, the division remained as an active command in the National Guard, gradually expanding its command to contain units from other divisions which had been consolidated. However, the division was never called up to support any major contingencies or see major combat, and was eventually deactivated in 1993, reorganized as a brigade under the 29^th Infantry Division under General Charles Gerhardt

  . As a part of Army-wide reorganization, the division’s brigade headquarters were disbanded in favor of regimental commands. The division was instead based around three regiments; the 101^st Infantry Regiment, the 104^th Infantry Regiment, and the 328^th Infantry Regiment. Also assigned to the division were the 101^st 102^nd 180^th and 263^rd Field Artillery Battalions, the 39^th Signal Company, the 726^thOrdinance Company, the 26^th Quartermaster Company, the 26^th Reconnaissance Troop, the 101^st Engineer Combat Battalion, and the 114^th Medical Battalion.

The casualties of the 26th Division during their European campaign: Total casualities, 10.701, killed in action 1.850,  wounded in action 7.886, missing in action 159 and prioner of war 806.

Death and burial ground of Paul, Willard Stewart.

. Major General Willard Stewart Paul took command of the Division, which he would lead through the rest of the war. Paul died at the age of 72, on 21-03-1966 in Walter Reed Hospital and is buried with his wife Ruth Mary, born Sieurin, who died age 60, in 1953, on the Arlington National Cemetery, Section 30, (Grave 1073). Close by the graves of Major General, Commander 116^th and 29^th Division, D-Day, Charles Canham , Fleet Deputy Chief Operation, Richard Edwards, Rear Admiral, Frank Akers

, Admiral Robert Ghormley, Lieutenant General, Commanded the 5^th Marine Division in the occupation of Japan, Thomas Bourke and Lieutenant General, Commander 2^nd Armoured Division, Ted Brooks, Major General, Chief Signal Officer, George Back, Infantry Major General. Commander 24^th Infantry Division, Kenneth Cramer, Infantry Major General. Commander 9^th Infantry Division, Louis Craig, Air Force Lieutenant General, Commander 12^th and 15^th U.S. Air Force, Ira Eaker, Navy Admiral, Okinawa Campain, Louis  Denfeld),Secretary of the Navy in 1944, James Forrestal and General, Deputy Chief of Staff, Bomb on Hiroshima, Thomas Handy and 1* General Lieutenant, Commanding Officer Artillery, 11^th Airborne Division . nicknamed “Angels” Francis William Farrell. Casualties of the 11^th Airborne Division, during their 204 days in combat in the Pacific, were 2.300.

Lieutenant Colonel Mary Louise Milligan receives the Legion of Merit from Major General Willard S. Paul, then the Director of Personnel and Administration, 1946. A memorial of the 26th Infantry Division was posted in Moyenvic, France.

Both his first wife, Ruth Mary Sieurin Paul (1892-1953), who served as an Army Nurse in World War I and his second wife, Luella Musselman Paul (1910-1978), are buried with him.

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