Russel Burton Reynolds (December 24, 1894 – December 7, 1970) was a major general 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 ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as a Director of Military Personnel Division of the Army Service Forces.

Biography

Reynolds was born on December 24, 1894, to Sydney and Nellie Reynolds in

Dundee, Michigan Dundee is a village in Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,323 at the 2020 census, up from 3,957 in 2010. The village is within Dundee Township and is served by Dundee Community Schools. Settled as early as 1823, ...

. He would attend the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. On January 12, 1918, he married Florine Janney. Reynolds died on December 8, 1970, and is buried with Florine at

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. ...

Military career

Reynolds originally joined the Army in 1917 and was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant. He would serve as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

from 1925 to 1929 and at Ripon College from 1936 to 1937. From 1929 to 1933 he served as an instructor at the

United States Army Infantry School The United States Army Infantry School is a school located at Fort Benning, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia that is dedicated to training Infantry Branch (United States), infantrymen for service in the United States Army. Organization The school ...

. During

he was Director of the Military Personnel Division of the

Army Service Forces The Army Service Forces was one of the three autonomous components of the United States Army during World War II, the others being the Army Air Forces and Army Ground Forces, created on 9 March 1942. By dividing the Army into three large comman ...

. Following the war he presided over the commission that tried

Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore. His conquest of Malaya and Singapore in 70 days earned him the sobriquet "The Tig ...

. Later he would serve as Chief of Special Service of the

United States Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. The DA is the Federal government of the United States, federal government agency within which the United St ...

Decorations

Awards he received include the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. ...

with

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

, World War I Victory Medal,

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a United States service medals of the World Wars, military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recogniz ...

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Russel Burton People from Dundee, Michigan United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) University of Pennsylvania faculty Ripon College (Wisconsin) faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 1970 deaths 1894 births United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Michigan