James B. Ord

James Basevi Ord (15 March 1892 – 30 January 1938) was a United States Army lieutenant colonel killed in an air crash at Camp John Hay, Philippines. At the time, Ord was serving as the Assistant Military Advisor to the Commonwealth of the Philippines, under United States Military Advisor Douglas MacArthur. Ord was a member of the West Point class of 1915, "the class the stars fell on", that also included Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower.

Early life

James Basevi Ord was born in Mexico on 15 March 1892, the son of Captain James Thompson Ord and Rose Basevi. He came from a distinguished military family. He was the grandson of Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord; Major Edward Otho Cresap Ord II was his uncle; and Major General James Garesche Ord was his cousin.

Ord received an appointment from California to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, which he entered on 12 June 1911. The class he joined would become famous as the class the stars fell on. Of the 164 graduates that year, 59 would wear the stars of a general officer, the most of any class in the history of the Academy. Classmates included Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower.

World War I

On 12 June 1915, Ord graduated 66th in his class, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 6th Infantry. He was sent to Camp Cotton, in El Paso, Texas, where he joined the 13th Cavalry as an interpreter with the Pancho Villa Expedition. He was wounded in the Battle of Parral on 12 April 1916, and was recommended for the Medal of Honor, but instead received the Distinguished Service Medal. His citation read:

Ord was promoted to first lieutenant with the 5th Cavalry on 1 July 1916. He was attached the headquarters of the Punitive Expedition until it was disbanded on 10 February 1917. He was placed in charge of a refugee camp in Columbus, New Mexico, which subsequently moved to San Antonio, Texas. He was then posted to the 54th Infantry at Chickamauga Park, Georgia, on 24 June 1917. On 16 July 1917, he joined the staff of the Reserve Officer's Training Camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Then, on 15 September 1917, he returned to West Point, initially as an instructor in modern languages, and then, from 20 September 1917, in tactics. From 18 May to 25 November 1918, he was an intelligence officer and Assistant Military Attaché in The Hague. He was awarded the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Between the wars

Promoted to major on 17 June 1918, Ord reverted to the grade of captain on 30 June 1920, only to return to being a major two days later. He attended the '' Ecole Supérieure de Guerre'' in Paris. Returning to the United States in July 1924. He reverted to captain again on 4 November 1922, but then was promoted to major again on 20 September 1924. From June 1925 to June 1926 he was a student at the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After graduation, he was posted to the Philippines, as commander of the 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry, and then, in May 1928, to the American Embassy in Paris as Assistant Military Attaché. He was technical adviser at the Army General Disarmament Conference, in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2 February to 19 June 1932.

Ord attended the Army War College from 1932 to 1933, and then was an instructor in military intelligence there from 1933 to 1935. That year, the outgoing Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Major General Douglas MacArthur, was appointed Military Advisor to the Commonwealth of the Philippines. MacArthur was permitted to select his own staff, so as his chief of staff, he chose Dwight Eisenhower, who had been his assistant for the previous two and a half years. In turn, Eisenhower was permitted to choose his own assistant, and he chose Ord for his staff skills and his knowledge of Spanish. MacArthur had previously been acquainted with Ord in Paris when MacArthur was Chief of Staff.

Death

Ord was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 July 1936. His main responsibility was to draw up a military budget for the Philippines. A realistic one proved difficult to create, as the United States government would not supply the funding for the equipment that MacArthur and Eisenhower believed that the Philippines would require in order to resist a Japanese invasion. A key part of this was the fledgling Philippine Air Corps. On 30 January 1938, Ord took off on a flight to Baguio with a Filipino student pilot at the controls. As the plane approached its destination, Ord had the pilot flew low over a friend's house so he could drop a note announcing his arrival tied to a rock. The inexperienced pilot stalled the plane and it crashed, killing Ord. President Manuel Quezon awarded Ord the Distinguished Service Star. His citation read:

Upon his death, Ord was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Richard K. Sutherland. Ord was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, not far from his father and other members of his family. He was survived by his wife, Emily Collier Howell, and his two children, James Basevi Ord, Jr., and Letitia Howell Ord. James Jr. subsequently became a colonel in the United States Marine Corps. He married Virginia Cartwright Shepherd, the daughter of General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., a Commandant of the Marine Corps.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ord, James Basevi
1892 births
1938 deaths
United States Army personnel of World War I
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army)
United States Army officers
United States Army War College alumni
United States Military Academy alumni
United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni
American people in the American Philippines
Graduates of the United States Military Academy Class of 1915