Philip De Witt Ginder (September 19, 1905 – November 7, 1968) was a career soldier in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. A highly decorated combat veteran, he rose to the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, while commanding 45th Infantry Division. He was a recipient of the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

, the United States' second-highest military award.

Early life

Ginder was born on September 19, 1905 in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

, the son of Grant D. and Emma Edith (Troxell) Ginder. He was raised in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

, and graduated from Scranton Central High School in 1923. In high school, Ginder was the senior class president, manager of the football team, and president of the school's athletic association. Ginder passed a competitive examination for a Congressional appointment to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

offered by Representative

Laurence Hawley Watres Laurence Hawley Watres (July 18, 1882 – February 6, 1964) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Early life and education Laurence H. Watres was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Louis Arthur Watres ...

. He began attendance at West Point in 1923, graduated in 1927, and was ranked 171st of 293. At graduation, he received his commission as a second lieutenant of

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

Start of career

Ginder completed the infantry officer qualification course in 1933, and his early career included postings to:

Fort Wadsworth Fort Wadsworth is a former United States military installation on Staten Island in New York City, situated on The Narrows which divide New York Bay into Upper and Lower halves, a natural point for defense of the Upper Bay and Manhattan beyon ...

, New York;

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

; Fort Benning, Georgia;

Fort Missoula Fort Missoula was established by the United States Army in 1877 on land that is now part of the city of Missoula, Montana, to protect settlers in Western Montana from possible threats from the Native American Indians, such as the Nez Perce. Beginn ...

, Montana; and

Schofield Barracks Schofield Barracks is a United States Army installation and census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu and in the Wahiawa District of the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Hawaii. Schofield Barracks lies adjacent to the t ...

, Hawaii.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Ginder was the assistant chief of staff for personnel (G-1) for the

Fourth United States Army Fourth United States Army was a field army of the United States Army between 1932 and 1991. History In 1922, Fourth Army was organized as a unit of the Organized Reserves in New York City. It was allotted to the Regular Army as an inactive unit ...

. Appointed to command the 357th Infantry Regiment, a unit of the

90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to: ;Infantry * 90th Division (1st Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1949–1950 * 90th Division (2nd Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1950–1952 * 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) * 90th Infantry Divi ...

, he was among the first ashore during the

Normandy Landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Ginder developed a reputation for subpar performance in combat, with observers and subordinates calling him "obtuse" and "full of boast and posturing." 357th veteran

William E. DePuy William Eugene DePuy ( ; October 1, 1919 – September 9, 1992) was a United States Army general and the first commander of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. He is widely regarded as one of the principal architects of the rest ...

called Ginder "as close to being incompetent as it is possible to be." Ginder was ultimately relieved of command during combat and escorted to the division command post under armed guard. Ginder was later appointed commander of the 121st Infantry Regiment, an 8th Infantry Division unit. He was in command of the regiment when it captured the German town of Hürtgen as part of the

Battle of Hürtgen Forest The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (german: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) was a series of battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944, between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II, in the Hürtgen Forest, a a ...

.Ginder, Philip De Witt: Papers, 1927–1968

Eisenhower Presidential Center The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home is the presidential library and museum of Dwight David Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States (1953–1961), located in his hometown of Abilene, Kansas. The mu ...

, dated July 12, 1973. Accessed January 13, 2009. It was for this action that he received the

for actions on November 28, 1944, when he personally led his reserve company through the town in bitter house-to-house fighting while armed only with his pistol and a hand grenade. Ginder was appointed the commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Regiment in the spring of the 1945. Ginder commanded the regiment until the end of the war, taking part in liberating the western part of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and ending the war in the town of

Rokycany Rokycany (; german: Rokitzan) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Rokycany is made up o ...

near Pilsen. From 1946 to 1949, Ginder attended the National War College and served in the Far East on the staff of General Douglas MacArthur. From 1949 to 1951, he served as senior military attaché in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Czechoslovakia.

Korean War and senior commands

Ginder commanded the

6th Infantry Regiment The 6th Infantry Regiment ("Regulars") was formed 11 January 1812. Zachary Taylor, later the twelfth President of the United States, was a commander of the unit. The motto, "Regulars, By God!" derives from the Battle of Chippawa, in which Brit ...

, Berlin (1951–1952), the 45th Infantry Division, Korea (1953), the 37th Infantry Division,

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

(1954),

10th Mountain Division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the US military to re ...

(1954–1955) and Fifth United States Army (1955). He went to Korea as a colonel, and advanced to major general in less than two years, making him the youngest American general to command a combat division in Korea. His service in Korea included nearly 18 months spent north of the 38th parallel. After the Korean War, Ginder commanded Fort Polk, Fort Riley, Camp McCoy, the Fifth United States Army, and served in the office of the

Chief of Staff of the United States Army The chief of staff of the Army (CSA) is a statutory position in the United States Army held by a general officer. As the highest-ranking officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, the chief is the principal military advisor and ...

as special assistant for Reserve and National Guard Forces. His final posting was to Governor's Island as deputy commander of First United States Army. He retired a major general in 1959.

Post-military career

After his retirement from the army, Ginder was president of the Brazilian-American Export Company, and joined the boards of directors of several other companies. Ginder died at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

's Trafalgar Hospital on November 7, 1968, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.Staff
"Gen. Philip Ginder Dead at 63; Division Leader in Korean War"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 8, 1968. Accessed January 13, 2009. He was buried at

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery in the eastern United States, on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Revolutionary War soldiers and ear ...

, Section V, Row A, Site 41.

Family

Ginder's first wife was Martha Calvert, whom he married in 1933, and with whom he had two daughters, Jean and Louise. They divorced in 1945. Ginder was next married to Jean Dalrymple, the head of the City Center Drama and Light Opera Companies, whom he met in 1951 while she was organizing United States participation at the Berlin Arts Festival on behalf of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

Decorations

Here is the ribbon bar of Major General Philip De Witt Ginder:

References

Sources

Internet

Books

External links

Papers of Phillip De Witt Ginder
at Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ginder, Phillip De Witt 1905 births 1968 deaths People from Plainfield, New Jersey American people of Dutch descent People from Scranton, Pennsylvania United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Silver Star Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 (France) Recipients of the Military Order of the White Lion Recipients of the Czechoslovak War Cross National War College alumni United States military attachés United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Korea) People from Danbury, Connecticut Burials at West Point Cemetery