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Charles T. Menoher

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Charles T. Menoher
Born(1862-03-20)March 20, 1862
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States
DiedAugust 11, 1930(1930-08-11) (aged 68)
Washington, D.C., United States
Place of burial
Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, United States
Allegiance United States
Service / branchUnited States Army
Years of service1886–1926
Rank Major General
Service number0-34
Commands42nd Division
VI Corps
US Army Air Service
Hawaiian Department
IX Corps
Battles / warsSpanish–American War
World War I
AwardsArmy Distinguished Service Medal

Major General Charles Thomas Menoher (March 20, 1862 – August 11, 1930) was a U.S. Army general, first Chief of the United States Army Air Service from 1918 to 1921, and commanded the U.S. Army Hawaiian Department from 1924 to 1925.

Early life

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The son of an American Civil War veteran, Menoher was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1862 and graduated 16 in a class of 77 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1886 with a commission as an artillery officer.[1] Several of his classmates included men who would, like Menoher himself, eventually rise to general officer rank, such as John J. Pershing, William H. Hay, Walter Henry Gordon, Edward Mann Lewis, Mason Patrick, Julius Penn, Avery D. Andrews, John E. McMahon, Ernest Hinds, George B. Duncan, James McRae, Lucien Grant Berry and Jesse McI. Carter.

Military career

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General John J. Pershing, C-in-C of the AEF, and Major General Menoher, commanding the 42nd Division, in front of the 42nd Division's headquarters, Chatel, France, June 1918.

Menoher served in Cuba and the Philippines during the Spanish–American War. He later graduated from the Army War College and was selected for the original General Staff Corps, where he served from 1903 to 1907. He was commander of the 5th Field Artillery Regiment from 1916 to 1917.[1]

He was still in command of the regiment until late August 1917, almost five months after the American entry into World War I, when, earlier that month, he received a promotion to the temporary rank of brigadier general and was sent to France to take command of the American Expeditionary Forces's (AEF) School of Instruction, Field Artillery, located in Saumar.

Menoher held this post until mid-December when he was selected by General John J. Pershing, commander-in-chief (C-in-C) of the AEF and a West Point classmate, to succeed Major General William A. Mann as commanding general (CG) of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division.[2][3] He would remain in command of the 42nd for the next 10 months, commanding the division throughout almost all of its period of combat service on the Western Front, participating in the Champagne-Marne offensive and in the successful Allied offensives of Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. In November, Menoher was succeeded in command of the 42nd by Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur, formerly the division's chief of staff but now commanding its 84th Infantry Brigade, in this position.[4]

As the war was coming to an end, Menoher was placed in command of the VI Corps (United States).[4] He later received the Army Distinguished Service Medal, along with foreign awards from France, Belgium, and Italy.[4] The citation for his Army DSM reads:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Major General Charles Thomas Menoher, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. In Command of the 42d Division from Chateau-Thierry to the conclusion of the Meuse-Argonne offensive, including the Baccarat sector, Reims, Vesles, and at St. Mihiel salient, General Menoher with his division participated in all of these important engagements. The reputation as a fighting unit of the 42d Division is in no small measure due to the soldierly qualities and the military leadership of General Menoher.[5][6]

Following the end of the war, Menoher became first Director and then Chief of Air Service, where he began a famous (and ultimately losing) conflict with his Assistant Chief, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell.[7] He was promoted to major general in March 1921. Requesting an assignment with troops, Menoher then took command of the Hawaiian Division in 1922 before taking over the entire Hawaiian Department. After this, he commanded the IX Corps Area in San Francisco until his mandatory retirement on March 20, 1926.[8][9]

Personal life

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He married Nannie Pearson. They had four sons: Charles, Pearson, Darrow, and William.[10][4] His three youngest sons all graduated from West Point, and served in the Army during World War II. Pearson (1892–1958), a classmate of both Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, reached the rank of major general during the Korean War, after seeing service in both of the world wars.[citation needed]

Menoher later married Elizabeth Painter.[4]

Death and legacy

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Menoher died of pneumonia[11] at the age of 68 on August 11, 1930.[8][12] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.[13]

Menoher Boulevard, a major road in Johnstown, Pennsylvania,[14] and Menoher Drive on Joint Base Andrews, Maryland,[15] are named after him.

Dates of rank

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Insignia Rank Component Date
None Cadet United States Military Academy 1 July 1882
None in 1886 Second lieutenant Regular Army 1 July 1886
First lieutenant Regular Army 23 December 1892
Captain Regular Army 2 February 1901
Major Regular Army 25 January 1907
Lieutenant colonel Regular Army 26 May 1911
Colonel Regular Army 1 July 1916
Brigadier general National Army 5 August 1917
Major general National Army 28 November 1917
(Reverted to brigadier general on 15 February 1919.)
Brigadier general Regular Army 7 November 1918
Major general Temporary 3 July 1920
Major general Regular Army 8 March 1921
Major general Retired List 20 March 1926[16]

Bibliography

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  • Cooke, James J. (1997). Pershing and his Generals: Command and Staff in the AEF. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-95363-7.
  • Cooke, James J, The Rainbow Division in the Great War, 1917-1919, Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated 1994 ISBN 0-275-94768-8
  • Davis, Henry Blaine Jr. (1998). Generals in Khaki. Raleigh, North Carolina: Pentland Press. ISBN 1571970886. OCLC 40298151.

References

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  1. ^ a b Davis 1998, p. 267.
  2. ^ James, D. Clayton (1 October 1970). The Years of MacArthur Volume 1 1880-1941 (1st ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company. p. 148. ISBN 978-0395109489. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  3. ^ Cooke 1997, p. 20.
  4. ^ a b c d e Who Was Who in American History – the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1975. p. 380. ISBN 0837932017.
  5. ^ "Valor awards for Charles Thomas Menoher".
  6. ^ "Charles T. Menoher • Cullum's Register • 3112".
  7. ^ Clodfelter, Mark A. , 'Molding Air Power Convictions: Development and Legacy of William Mitchell's Strategic Thought', in Melinger, Phillip S. ed., The Paths of Heaven: The Evolution of Air Power Theory, Alabama, Air University Press, 1997, 79–114, p. 91
  8. ^ a b Davis 1998, p. 268.
  9. ^ "Charles T. Menoher • Cullum's Register • 3112".
  10. ^ Davis 1998, pp. 267−268.
  11. ^ "U.S. Air Services". 1930.
  12. ^ "Charles T. Menoher • Cullum's Register • 3112".
  13. ^ "Burial Detail: Menoher, Charles Thomas (Section 3, Grave 1993)". ANC Explorer. Arlington National Cemetery. (Official website).
  14. ^ "'Great War changed everything': Johnstown region gave much to global conflict | News | tribdem.com". 11 November 2018.
  15. ^ "Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington | Base Overview & Info | MilitaryINSTALLATIONS". installations.militaryonesource.mil. Archived from the original on 2020-08-12.
  16. ^ Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army. 1927. p. 772.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charles T. Menoher.
Military offices
Preceded by Commanding General 42nd Division
1917–1918 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commanding General VI Corps
November−December 1918 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Commanding General Hawaiian Division
1922−1924 		Succeeded by
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