Wade H. Haislip

Wade H. Haislip

Wade H. Haislip
Nickname(s) Ham
Born (1889-07-09)July 9, 1889
Woodstock, Virginia
Died December 23, 1971(1971-12-23) (aged 82)
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United StatesUnited States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1912-1951
Rank General
Commands held 85th Infantry Division
XV Corps
Seventh Army
Battles/wars Pancho Villa Expedition
World War I
World War II
Awards Distinguished Service Medal (4)
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal (2)
Other work Governor, Soldiers Home

Wade Hampton Haislip (July 9, 1889 December 23, 1971) was a United States Army four-star general who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army (VCSA) from 1949 to 1951.

Military career

Haislip was born in Woodstock, Virginia on July 9, 1889, and moved at age 2 to Staunton, Virginia.[1] He was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry upon graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1912.

Haislip served in Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1914 after the Tampico Affair. From 1917 to 1921, he served with the American Expeditionary Forces, first in World War I, then in the occupation of Germany. During his time overseas his assignments included being on the General Staff of V Corps; Division Machine Gun Officer for the 3rd Division, and General Staff, U.S. Forces in Germany. During World War I he participated in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He returned to West point as an instructor from 1921 to 1923. He next attended a series of schools, beginning with the U.S. Army Infantry School from 1923 to 1924, then the Command and General Staff School from 1924 to 1925, and finally going back overseas to attend the French Ecole Superieure de Guerre from 1925 to 1927. He returned to the United States as Assistant executive in the Office of Assistant Secretary of War from 1928 to 1931, followed by the Army War College from 1931 to 1932, and an assignment as an instructor at the Command and General Staff School from 1932 to 1936.

Prior to World War II he held a series of staff assignments, including time in the Budget and Legislative Planning Branch of the War Department General Staff from 1938 to 1941, and Assistant Chief-of-Staff for personnel.

In World War II, he organized the 85th Infantry Division and served as commander from April 1942 to February 1943. He next took command of XV Corps and served with it through Normandy, France, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns. He became commander of Seventh United States Army, and was in that billet when World War II ended in August 1945.

Following the war he was on the Secretary of War's Personnel Board from September 1945 to April 1946, and a senior member of the Chief-of-Staff's Advisory Group from 1946 to 1948. Prior to his selection in 1949 as Vice Chief of Staff he was Deputy Chief-of-Staff for administration, 1948-49. He retired in 1951.

Post military career

After retiring from active duty in 1951, Haislip went on to become Governor of the Soldier's Home in Washington, D.C., a position he filled from 1951 to 1966.

Haislip died on December 23, 1971 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center after suffering a stroke, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, the former Alice Jennings Shepherd (1897–1987), whom he had married on July 14, 1932, was later buried beside him.

Trivia

Haislip is responsible for introducing Dwight D. Eisenhower to Mamie Doud. Eisenhower was a second lieutenant and Haislip a first lieutenant at Fort Sam Houston at the time. At Eisenhower's funeral, he served as a pall-bearer.[2]

Notes

References

Military offices
Preceded by
Alexander Patch
Commanding General of the Seventh United States Army
June 1945 to August 1945
Succeeded by
Geoffrey Keyes
Preceded by
Lt. Gen. J. Lawton Collins
Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army
1949 1951
Succeeded by
Gen. John E. Hull
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