General Guy Stanley Meloy Jr. (September 4, 1903 – December 14, 1968) was a U.S. Army general, World War II and Korean War veteran, and served as commander of all U.S. forces in Korea during the Cold War.

Early life and education

Meloy was born in

Lanham, Maryland Lanham is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census it had a population of 11,282. The New Carrollton (WMA ...

on September 4, 1903. After graduating from

McKinley Technology High School McKinley Technology High School is a public citywide 9th–12th grade high school in the District of Columbia Public Schools in Northeast Washington, D.C. The school, an offshoot of Central High School (now Cardozo Senior High School), originall ...

in Washington D.C., he was appointed to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

. He graduated from West Point in 1927 with a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry.

Career

One of his early assignments was with the first

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter, tank killer, or self-propelled anti-tank gun is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, armed with a direct fire artillery gun or missile launcher, designed specifically to engage and destroy enemy tanks, often w ...

battalion to be organized in the United States Army. He followed this assignment by attending the British Army's anti-tank school, and upon his return to the U.S. was assigned to

Camp Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquar ...

(later Fort Hood) as one of the first five officers at the now defunct Tank Destroyer Center. During World War II he served in Europe as chief of staff of the 103rd Infantry Division, and was chief of staff of the Airborne Center at

Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cu ...

1940s

From 1946 to 1948 he was professor of military science and tactics at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. He next served as commander of the 19th Infantry Regiment(United States) of the 24th Infantry Division at Camp Chickamauga in Beppu, Kyushu, Japan.

1950s

He deployed to the Korean War, where he was seriously wounded in action while serving as the Commanding Officer, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division on July 16, 1950. This occurred during the action that resulted in him receiving the Distinguished Service Cross. Later he commanded the

United States Army Infantry School The United States Army Infantry School is a school located at Fort Benning, Georgia that is dedicated to training infantrymen for service in the United States Army. Organization The school is made up of the following components: * 197th Infant ...

at Fort Benning, and the

1st Infantry Division 1st Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) *1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) *1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoured Division (Australi ...

in Europe, where he oversaw the unit's redeployment to

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 G ...

. He was the Chief of Public Information at the Department of the Army and later commanded

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 ...

Fort Sam Houston Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. "Fort Sam Houston, TX • About Fort Sam Houston" (overview), US Army, 2007, webpageSH-Army. Known colloquially as "Fort Sam," it is named for the U.S. Senator from Texas, U.S. Repres ...

in 1958 and then served as the commander of VII Corps in Europe.

1960s

He received his fourth star in 1961 and became the commander-in-chief of the

United Nations Command, Korea United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first a ...

, commander

United States Forces Korea United States Forces Korea (USFK) is a sub-unified command of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). USFK is the joint headquarters for U.S. combat-ready fighting forces and components under the ROK/US Combined Forces Command (CFC) – a su ...

, commanding general of Eighth United States Army and commanding general of the

Seventh United States Army The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fran ...

, headquartered at Stuttgart in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Personal life

On November 16, 1960 he married Therese Susan Graves, (née Fischer) from San Antonio, Texas.

Later life and death

He retired at the age of 60 in 1963, and died on December 14, 1968. He is buried with his first wife Catherine, who preceded him in death in 1959, in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. In retirement, he served as mayor of Terrell Hills, Texas, and was active in the San Antonio chapter of the Association of the United States Army, which established a scholarship in his name in 1970. His son, Guy S. Meloy III, retired from the U.S. Army as a major general.

Awards

Meloy's awards included the

Combat Infantryman Badge The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is a United States Army military decoration. The badge is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers in the rank of colonel and below, who fought in active ground combat while assigned as members of ei ...

, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Medal,

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

, and

Army Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meloy, Guy 1903 births 1964 deaths United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit People from Lanham, Maryland Mayors of places in Texas Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 20th-century American politicians Commanders, United States Forces Korea