Elbridge Chapman

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Major General Elbridge Chapman and Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, commander of Army Ground Forces, inspect troopers of the 13th Airborne Division, 13 May 1944.

Major General Elbridge Gerry Chapman Jr. (20 November 1895 – 6 July 1954)[1] was a senior United States Army officer who served in both World War I and World War II.[2] During the latter he commanded the 13th Airborne Division,[3] but saw no action. General Chapman was portrayed in the television miniseries Band of Brothers by David Andrews.

Military career[]

Chapman entered the United States Army in 1917, due to the American entry into World War I and was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Infantry Branch. He served with distinction on the Western Front in France as a company commander with the 5th Machine Gun Battalion (attached to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division) and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star Citation for valor.[4]

During the interwar period he remained in the army and by the time the United States entered World War II in December 1941 he was an enthusiastic supporter of the army's rapidly growing airborne forces, commanding the 88th Glider Infantry Battalion, later becoming the Assistant Division Commander of the 13th Airborne Division,[5] later commanding the division in North-West Europe but never commanded it in action.

References[]

  1. ^ "Biography of Major-General Elbridge Gerry Jr. Chapman (1895 – 1954), USA". www.generals.dk. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  2. ^ Gregory Orfalea (1997). Messengers of the Lost Battalion: Heroic 551st and the Turning of the Tide at the Battle of the Bulge. Simon & Schuster. p. 77. ISBN 978-0684828046.
  3. ^ "13th Airborne Division During WW II - Overview". www.ww2-airborne.us. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  4. ^ "Valor awards for Elbridge G. Chapman , Jr". valor.militarytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-10-29.
  5. ^ Andrew Rawson (2012). Eyes Only: The Top Secret Correspondence Between Eisenhower and Marshall. The History Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0752462905.
Military offices
Preceded by
George W. Griner Jr. 		Commanding General 13th Airborne Division
1943–1946 		Succeeded by
Post deactivated
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