US Army General. He was the son of Army Major General Charles Hartwell Bonesteel, Jr. He entered the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1927 and graduated in 1931. He served on various staff assignments in the US and Europe before and during World War II, including as commander of Iceland Base Command from 1941 to 1942 and Commandant of the US Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, from 1943 to 1944. In 1945, with the surrender of Japan imminent, he served on the Strategy Policy Committee at the Pentagon where he, along with Col Dean Rusk (later to serve as the Secretary of State under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson) and General George A. Lincoln, developed General Order No. 1 to define the areas of responsibility for US, Soviet, and Chinese forces. On August 10, 1945, with Soviet forces already moving through Manchuria and into northern Korea, he proposed the 38th parallel as the Korean dividing line, which was accepted by them the following day. After World War II, he served as a special assistant to the Secretary of State. He commanded the 24th Infantry Division from 1961 to 1962 and the 7th Corps from 1962 to 1963. He was promoted to the rank of general on 1 September 1966 and was assigned to Korea where he served as the Commander of US Forces Korea and Commander in Chief, United Nations Command Korea, as well as the commanding general of the 8th Army from 1966 to 1969, serving in those positions until he retired in 1969 with 38 years of continued military service in the US Army. His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster. During his military career he was also a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England.
US Army General. He was the son of Army Major General Charles Hartwell Bonesteel, Jr. He entered the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1927 and graduated in 1931. He served on various staff assignments in the US and Europe before and during World War II, including as commander of Iceland Base Command from 1941 to 1942 and Commandant of the US Army Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, from 1943 to 1944. In 1945, with the surrender of Japan imminent, he served on the Strategy Policy Committee at the Pentagon where he, along with Col Dean Rusk (later to serve as the Secretary of State under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson) and General George A. Lincoln, developed General Order No. 1 to define the areas of responsibility for US, Soviet, and Chinese forces. On August 10, 1945, with Soviet forces already moving through Manchuria and into northern Korea, he proposed the 38th parallel as the Korean dividing line, which was accepted by them the following day. After World War II, he served as a special assistant to the Secretary of State. He commanded the 24th Infantry Division from 1961 to 1962 and the 7th Corps from 1962 to 1963. He was promoted to the rank of general on 1 September 1966 and was assigned to Korea where he served as the Commander of US Forces Korea and Commander in Chief, United Nations Command Korea, as well as the commanding general of the 8th Army from 1966 to 1969, serving in those positions until he retired in 1969 with 38 years of continued military service in the US Army. His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster and the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster. During his military career he was also a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford in England.
Bio by: William Bjornstad
Gravesite Details
AR United States Army
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Bonesteel memorials in:
Advertisement
