Ira Augustus Hunt Jr. (July 23, 1924 – May 23, 2022) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

Major General.

Early life and education

Ira Augustus Hunt Jr. was born in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

on July 23, 1934. He attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

graduating in the class of 1945.

Military career

Hunt was assigned to the Corps of Engineers upon graduation. He served as a commander of the 12th Engineer Battalion, 8th Infantry Division in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

from 1964 to 1966. He later served as a Military Assistant in the Office of Organization and Management Planning, Office of the Secretary of Defense. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

he served as Chief of Staff of the 9th Infantry Division under Major General Julian Ewell. He subsequently served as commander of the 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division. Hunt served as deputy commander of United States Support Activities Group from 1973 to 1974 and served temporarily as Defense Attaché at the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon during a change of command in August 1974. Hunt served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Training and Schools, Headquarters,

United States Army Training and Doctrine Command The United States Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) is a major command of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia. It is charged with overseeing training of Army forces and the development of operational doctrine ...

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe is a former military installation in Hampton, Virginia, at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, United States. It is currently managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth o ...

, Virginia.

Writing

Hunt was the author of several books on the Vietnam War: *
Sharpening the combat edge: The use of analysis to reinforce military judgment
' (1974) with LTG Julian Ewell *''The 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam: Unparalleled and Unequaled'' (2010) *''Losing Vietnam: How America Abandoned Southeast Asia'' (2013) *''My Lai Cover-Up Deceit and Incompetence'' (2018)

Personal life and death

Ira A. Hunt Jr. retired from the Army in 1978. He died in

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

on May 23, 2022, at the age of 97.

Decorations

His decorations included the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against a ...

(2), the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

(4), the Distinguished Flying Cross and the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...

(2).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunt, Ira A. Jr. 1924 births 2022 deaths American military personnel stationed in Germany United States Army generals United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Lincoln, Nebraska