Major General Lowell Ward Rooks (April 11, 1893 − January 11, 1973) was an officer in the

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 ...

who commanded 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 Di ...

in 1945 and served with the

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF; ) was the headquarters of the Commander of Allies of World War II, Allied forces in northwest Europe, from late 1943 until the end of World War II. US General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the ...

at the

end of World War II in Europe The end of World War II in Europe occurred in May 1945. Following the Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April, leadership of Nazi Germany passed to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz and the Flensburg Government. Soviet Union, Soviet t ...

. He later served as Director General of the

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, pronounced ) was an international relief agency founded in November 1943 on the joint initiative of the United States, United Kingdom, USSR, and the Republic of China. Its purpose ...

.Christian E. Burckel (ed.), ''Who's Who in the United Nations: The Authoritative, Illustrated, Biographical Dictionary of Key Persons Associated with the United Nations''
1st edition (1951), p. 370.
12 May 1973. Retrieved 10 July 2024.

Education and army career

Born in

Colton, Washington Colton is a town in Whitman County, Washington, Whitman County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 401 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Colton was first settled in 1879 by J.A. Cole, and was ...

, to Albert Rooks (1859–1932) and Ruth Naomi Richardson (1871–1941), Rooks attended

Walla Walla High School Walla Walla High School (commonly Wa-Hi) is a public high school in Walla Walla, Washington that is the largest school in the Walla Walla Public School System. Located in Walla Walla East, the sprawling 60-acre campus features detached buildings ...

before studying at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Founded as a seminary by a territorial l ...

and later at

Washington State College Washington State University (WSU, or colloquially Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university in Pullman, Washington, United States. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant universities in the American West. With an un ...

(1913−1914) and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

(1914−1917). His university studies were cut short by the

American entry into World War I The United States entered into World War I on 6 April 1917, more than two and a half years after the war began in Europe. Apart from an Anglophile element urging early support for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British and an a ...

. He later studied at the

Infantry School A School of Infantry provides training in weapons and infantry tactics to infantrymen of a nation's military forces. Schools of infantry include: Australia *Australian Army – School of Infantry, Lone Pine Barracks at Singleton, NSW. Franc ...

(1926−1927), the

Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

(1933−1935) and the Army War College (1936−1937). Rooks rose through the ranks of the United States Army, serving overseas in World War I and on the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

. He was an instructor at the Infantry School from 1930 to 1933 and at the Command and General Staff College from 1937 to 1941. From 1941 to 1942 he served as chief of the ground forces training division of the Army War College. In June 1942 he became chief of staff of II Corps.Forrest C. Pogue, ''United States Army in World War II: The European Theater of Operations - The Supreme Command'' (Center of Military History, United States Army, Washington, D.C., 1989), biographical sketches, p. 19. In December 1942 he joined the staff of

General Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

. He served at the

North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

headquarters and in January 1944 was appointed deputy chief of staff of

Allied Force Headquarters Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ) was the headquarters that controlled all Allied operational forces in the Mediterranean theatre of World War II from August 1942 until the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. History AFHQ was established i ...

and took part in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

. He commanded the

briefly at the beginning of 1945. In March 1945 he was appointed to the

(SHAEF), in which role he helped to dissolve the German supreme military command and the acting German government in May 1945, leading to the arrest of

Admiral Dönitz Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of th ...

Post-war career and retirement

Rooks retired from the army in December 1945. He was chief executive officer of the

in 1946, and from 1 January 1947 to 30 September 1948 he served as its third and final Director General, overseeing the agency's closure.Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, George Washington University, mention of Lowell Rooks Ward in ''My Day'', July 3, 1947
Retrieved July 10, 2024. He then worked as a fundraising coordinator for

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

until his resignation in November 1950. He later moved to a

cattle ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

in Arizona and died there, in

Nogales, Arizona Nogales (; English: or ) is a city in and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, Arizona. The population was 20,837 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and estimated 20,103 in 2019. Nogales forms part of the larger Tucson–Nogales L ...

, in 1973. He was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Honours

Rooks was awarded the American

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 ...

for the North African and Italian campaigns during World War II, the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

and

Croix de Guerre The (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awarded during World ...

, the Brazilian Order of Military Merit and the Belgian Order of the Crown.

Family

Rooks was married to Martha C. Phillips (1901–1972), with whom he had two daughters. Rooks's older brother

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert Computers, Inc., a computer manufacturer in the 1980s * Albert Czech Republic, a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street mar ...

was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer who was killed at sea in 1942.

References

External links

Generals of World War II
{{s-end 1893 births 1973 deaths People from Colton, Washington Walla Walla High School alumni Whitman College alumni Washington State University alumni University of Washington alumni United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) American recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) United Nations officials Burials at Arlington National Cemetery