| Lucian King Truscott, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| January 9, 1895 – November 12, 1965 (aged 70) | |
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| Place of birth | Chatfield, Texas |
| Place of death | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1917 – 1947 |
| Rank |  General |
| Unit | 2nd Battalion, 13th Armored Regiment IX Corps Allied Combined Staff US Rangers VI Corps |
| Commands held | 3rd Infantry Division U.S. VI Corps (Italy, France) U.S. Fifteenth Army (Oct '44) U.S. Fifth Army (Italy) (Dec '44) U.S. Third Army (Bavaria) (Oct '45) |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal (2) Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Purple Heart |
| Other work | author |
Lucian King Truscott, Jr. (January 9, 1895 – September 12, 1965) was a US Army General, who successively commanded the 3rd Infantry Division, VI Corps, U.S. Fifteenth Army and U.S. Fifth Army during World War II.
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Early life
Truscott was born in Chatfield, Texas, to an English father and Irish mother, and joined the Army in 1917. After officer training, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of cavalry and served in various cavalry and staff assignments between World War I and World War II.
World War II
In 1942, then-Colonel Truscott was instrumental in developing an American commando unit patterned after the British Commando units. The American unit was activated by newly promoted Brigadier General Truscott on June 19, 1942 as the 1st Ranger Battalion, and placed under the command of William Orlando Darby.
On November 8, 1942, as a major general, he led the 9,000 men of the 60th Infantry and 66th Armored Regiment in the landings at Mehdia and Port Lyautey in Morocco, part of Operation Torch under General George S. Patton.[1]
3rd Infantry
Truscott took command of the 3rd Infantry Division in April 1943, and oversaw preparations for the invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky. He was known as a very tough trainer, bringing the 3rd Infantry Division up to a very high standard. He led the division in the assault on Sicily in July 1943. Here his training paid off when the Division covered great distances in the mountainous terrain at high speed. The famous "Truscott trot" was a marching pace of five miles per hour over the first mile, thence four miles per hour, much faster than the usual standard of 2.5 miles per hour. The 3rd Infantry Division was considered by many the best-trained, best-led division in the Seventh Army. In mid-September 1943, nine days after the initial Allied landings, he led the division ashore at Salerno on the Italian mainland, where it fought its way up the peninsula.
VI Corps
In January 1944, the division assaulted Anzio as part of the U.S. VI Corps. Allied forces soon became mired on the beachhead, and Truscott was given command of VI Corps, replacing the initial commander, Lieutenant General John P. Lucas, who had proved to be indecisive during the battle. Truscott was succeeded in command of 3rd Infantry Division by Major General John "Iron Mike" O'Daniel.
Following Anzio, Truscott continued to command VI Corps through the fight up Italy. His command was then withdrawn from the line to prepare for Operation Dragoon, the amphibious assault on southern France. The Corps landed on 15 August 1944 and faced relatively little opposition. On September 2, 1944 Truscott was promoted to Lieutenant General and in October he took command of the newly formed U.S. Fifteenth Army[citation needed] .
Fifth Army
Truscott's next command came in December 1944. He was promoted to command of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy when its commander Lieutenant General Mark Clark was made commander of 15th Army Group. Truscott led the Army through the hard winter of 1944–1945, where many of its formations were in exposed positions in the mountains of Italy. He then led US forces through the final destruction of the German Army in Italy.
Truscott had a very gravelly voice, said to be the result of an accidental ingestion of acid in childhood. He was superstitious about his clothing, and usually wore a leather jacket, "pink" (light khaki) pants and lucky boots in combat. He also wore a white scarf as a trademark, first during the Sicilian campaign.
Truscott once said to his son, "Let me tell you something, and don't ever forget it. You play games to win, not lose. And you fight wars to win. That's spelled W-I-N ! And every good player in a game and every good commander in a war...has to have some son of a bitch in him. If he doesn't, he isn't a good player or commander....It's as simple as that. No son of a bitch, no commander."
Truscott was respected by those who served under him. A medical officer in the Seventh Army related stories he'd heard from the men who served under Truscott earlier. Unlike some commanders, Truscott was not noted for self aggrandizement,[2] nor did he suffer such from his superiors.[3] Others noted he was humbled by the sacrifices those under him had made. Bill Mauldin described the time Truscott gave the address on Memorial Day, May 31, 1945, in the military cemetery at Nettuno, outside Anzio: "He turned his back on the assembled windbags and sparklers and talked to the crosses in the cemetery, quietly, apologizing, and then walked away without looking around."[4]
Post war
Truscott took over command of the U.S. Third Army from Gen. George S. Patton on October 8, 1945, and led it until April 1946. This command included the Eastern Military District of the U.S. occupation zone of Germany, which consisted primarily of the state of Bavaria. When the U.S. Seventh Army was deactivated in March 1946, Truscott's Third Army took over the Western Military District (the U.S.-occupied parts of Baden, Württemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt).
Will Lang Jr. from Life (magazine) wrote a biography on Truscott that appeared in the October 2, 1944 issue of LIFE.
In 1954 Truscott was promoted to the rank of general by special act of Congress (Public Law 83-508, July 19, 1954).
Decorations
General Truscott received the Army's second-highest decoration, the Distinguished Service Cross, for valor in action in Sicily on July 11, 1943, the second day of the invasion. General Truscott's other decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and the Purple Heart.
Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Legion of Merit
Purple Heart
Retirement
After retirement, Lucian K. Truscott Jr. was an author. General Truscott wrote Command Missions (1954 - ISBN 0891413642) and The Twilight of the U.S. Cavalry (ISBN 0700609326)
General Truscott died September 12, 1965, in Alexandria, Virginia.[5]
Family
Lucian K. Truscott, Jr's son, Lucian K. Truscott III, fought in the Korean War as a rifle company commander.
His grandson, Lucian K. Truscott IV, wrote the books Dress Gray (ISBN 0385134754) Heart of War (ISBN 0451187709), Army Blue (ISBN 0747202443) and Full Dress Gray (ISBN 0006160794).
See also
References
- Phibbs, Brendan, M.D., The Other Side of Time, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1987, ISBN 0-316-70510-1
- ^ Atkinson, Rick. An Army at Dawn. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. pp. 111, 141-148. ISBN 0805074481
- ^ Phibbs, p.201 "... Truscott's absolute exclusion of his name from dispatches. Such-and-such battalion captured this, or a particular regiment stormed that, or Private Somebody heroically did the other. Any attempt to use Truscott's name or names of the Third Division headquarters officers in dispatches was chopped off with reprooof."
- ^ Phibbs, p.202 "Bill Mauldin described Truscott as a man 'so tough he could chew up a ham like Patton without bothering to pick his teeth.'"
- ^ Phibbs, p.202. Phibbs gives the date as 1943 and the place as Salerno but this was before the landings at Salerno and the cemetery is located in Nettuno.
- ^ http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lktruscott.htm
Additional information
- Short bio at Third Army website
- Bio at [1]
- 3rd Division/VI Corps photos and Truscott Bio at dogfacesoldiers.org
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George S. Patton |
Commanding General of the Third United States Army 1945 – 1946 |
Succeeded by Geoffrey Keyes |
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