This is a list of United States Armed Forces general officers and flag officers who were killed in World War II. The dates of death listed are from the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 to the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, when the United States was officially involved in World War II. Included are generals and admirals who were killed by friendly or hostile fire, suicide, or accidents (usually airplane crashes). General and flag officers who died of illness or natural causes are not included. The rank listed was at the time of their death.
In 1954, the United States Congress passed Public Law 83-508, which promoted lieutenant generals who had commanded an army or Army Ground Forces during World War II to the rank of general. When it took effect on 19 July 1954, Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. and Lesley J. McNair were posthumously promoted. One officer was posthumously promoted to general officer rank during the war: Colonel William O. Darby, whose nomination for promotion to the rank of brigadier general had already been approved by Congress and submitted to President Harry S. Truman for approval at the time of his death. On the other hand, Douglas B. Netherwood was promoted to brigadier general in October 1940, but reverted to the rank of colonel on 25 December 1941. He died in an air crash on 19 August 1943.
Lieutenant generals Image NameBranchCause of deathLocationCommandsReferences Frank Maxwell Andrews United States Army Air Forces 3 May 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Mount Fagradalsfjall, Iceland Commanding General, European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. United States Army 18 June 1945 Hostile fire (artillery) Okinawa, Japan Commanding General, Tenth United States Army Posthumously promoted to general in 1954 Millard Harmon United States Army Air Forces 26 February 1945 Airplane crash (accident) Pacific Ocean near the Marshall Islands Commanding General, Task Force 93 (Strategic Air Force, Pacific Ocean Areas) Commanding General, U.S. Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (AAFPOA) Lesley James McNair United States Army 25 July 1944 Friendly fire (airstrike) Saint-Lô, Normandy, France Commanding General, Army Ground Forces Commanding General, First United States Army Group (fictitious/paper command)
Posthumously promoted to general in 1954
Major generals Image NameBranchCause of deathLocationCommandsReferences Charles D. Barrett United States Marine Corps 8 October 1943 Fall from a balcony (possibly suicide) Noumea, New Caledonia Commanding General, I Marine Amphibious Corps Herbert Dargue United States Army Air Forces 12 December 1941 Airplane crash (accident) Near Sierra Nevada mountains in California Was en route to relieve Lieutenant General Walter Short of duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was going to be Commanding General, Hawaiian Department Stonewall Jackson United States Army 13 October 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Camp Polk, Louisiana Commanding General, 84th Infantry Division Frank Mahin United States Army 24 July 1942 Airplane crash (accident) Wayne County, Tennessee Commanding General, 33rd Infantry Division Paul Newgarden United States Army 14 July 1944 Airplane crash (accident) Chattanooga, Tennessee Commanding General, 10th Armored Division Edwin D. Patrick United States Army 15 March 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Near Montalban (now. Rodriguez), Rizal, Luzon Island, Philippines Commanding General, 6th Infantry Division Maurice Rose United States Army 30 March 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Near Paderborn, Germany Commanding General, 3rd Armored Division Clarence L. Tinker United States Army Air Forces 7 June 1942 Airplane crash (hostile fire or accident) Near Midway Island Commanding General, Seventh Air Force William P. Upshur United States Marine Corps 21 July 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Near Sitka, Alaska Commanding General, Department of the Pacific, U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient
Rear admirals Image NameBranchCause of deathLocationCommandsReferences Daniel J. Callaghan United States Navy 13 November 1942 Hostile fire (naval gunfire) Off Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands Commander, Task Group 67.4 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal Medal of Honor recipient Charles P. Cecil United States Navy 31 July 1944 Airplane crash (accident) Near Funafuti, Tuvalu Commander, unit of VII Amphibious Force Theodore E. Chandler United States Navy 7 January 1945 Hostile fire (kamikaze) Lingayen Gulf, Philippines Commander, Cruiser Division 4 during the invasion of Lingayen Gulf Robert Henry English United States Navy 21 January 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Boonville, California Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet Isaac C. Kidd United States Navy 7 December 1941 Hostile fire (aerial bomb) Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Commander, Battleship Division One during the attack on Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor recipient Don Pardee Moon United States Navy 3 August 1944 Suicide (gunshot) Mediterranean Sea Commander, Task Force 87 (Camel Force) for Operation Dragoon Henry M. Mullinnix United States Navy 24 November 1943 Hostile fire (torpedo) Off Makin Island, Gilbert Islands Commander, Carrier Division 24 and Task Group 52.3 during the Battle of Makin Norman Scott United States Navy 13 November 1942 Suspected friendly fire from while fighting enemy ships (naval gunfire) Off Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands Second-in-command, Task Group 67.4 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal Medal of Honor recipient John W. Wilcox Jr. United States Navy 27 March 1942 Swept overboard and lost at sea North Atlantic Ocean Commander, battleships, Atlantic Fleet
Brigadier generals Image NameBranchCause of deathLocationCommandsReferences James Roy Andersen United States Army Air Forces 26 February 1945 Airplane crash (accident) Pacific Ocean near the Marshall Islands Chief of Staff to Lieutenant General Millard Harmon Charles H. Barth Jr. United States Army Air Forces 3 May 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Mount Fagradalsfjall, Iceland Chief of Staff to Lieutenant General Frank Maxwell Andrews Gustav Joseph Braun United States Army 17 March 1945 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Near Monte Bel Monte, Italy Assistant Commanding General, 34th Infantry Division Frederick Walker Castle United States Army Air Forces 24 December 1944 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Near Hods, Belgium Commanding General, 4th Combat Bombardment Wing Medal of Honor recipient James Dalton II United States Army 16 May 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Dalton Pass, Luzon, Philippines Assistant Commanding General, 25th Infantry Division Asa N. Duncan United States Army Air Forces 17 November 1942 Airplane crash (accident) Atlantic Ocean, en route from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar Chief of Staff to Major General Carl Spaatz, commander of the Eighth Air Force Claudius Miller Easley United States Army 19 June 1945 Hostile fire (small arms) Okinawa, Japan Assistant Commanding General, 96th Infantry Division Nathan Bedford Forrest III United States Army Air Forces 13 June 1943 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Kiel, Germany Chief of Staff of the Second Air Force Harold Huston George United States Army Air Forces 29 April 1942 Airplane crash (accident) Batchelor Field, Northern Territory, Australia Deputy Chief of Staff for Material & Logistics (A-4), Far East Air Force Davis Dunbar Graves United States Army Air Forces 8 February 1944 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Porto Santo Stefano, Italy Commanding General, 63rd Fighter Wing Charles L. Keerans United States Army 11 July 1943 Missing in action (hostile fire or friendly fire) Near Sicily, Italy Assistant Commanding General, 82nd Airborne Division Allan C. McBride United States Army 9 May 1944 Starvation in a POW camp Shirakawa Prison Camp, Formosa Deputy Chief of Staff to General Douglas MacArthur Commanding General of the Service Command Area, Bataan Don Pratt United States Army 6 June 1944 Glider crash (accident) Normandy, France Assistant Commanding General, 101st Airborne Division Howard Knox Ramey United States Army Air Forces 26 March 1943 Missing in action (hostile fire or accident) Torres Strait was the last confirmed location Commanding General, V Bomber Command Edmund Wilson Searby United States Army 14 September 1944 Hostile fire (tank) Épinal, Lorraine, France Commanding General of Artillery, 80th Infantry Division Kenneth Walker United States Army Air Forces 5 January 1943 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Rabaul, New Britain Commanding General, V Bomber Command Medal of Honor recipient Nelson Macy Walker United States Army 10 July 1944 Hostile fire (small arms) La Haye-du-Puits, Normandy, France Assistant Commanding General, 8th Infantry Division Carlyle Hilton Wash United States Army Air Forces 26 January 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Flomaton, Florida Commanding General, II Air Support Command James Edward Wharton United States Army 12 August 1944 Hostile fire (small arms) Sourdeval, Normandy, France Commanding General, 28th Infantry Division Russell Alger Wilson United States Army Air Forces 6 March 1944 Hostile fire (anti-aircraft fire) Berlin, Germany Commanding General, 4th Bombardment Wing
Commodores Image NameBranchCause of deathLocationCommandsReferences James Alexander Logan United States Navy 4 September 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Maghera, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom Commander, United States Naval Operating Base, Londonderry
Colonels Image NameBranchCause of deathLocationCommandsReferences William Orlando Darby United States Army 30 April 1945 Hostile fire (artillery) Torbole, Italy Assistant Commanding General, 10th Mountain Division. Promoted posthumously to brigadier general on 15 May 1945, backdated to 30 April 1945 Douglas Blakeshaw Netherwood United States Army Air Forces 19 August 1943 Airplane crash (accident) Between Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, and Pope Field, North Carolina Assigned to the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Promoted to brigadier general in October 1940, but reverted to the rank of colonel on 25 December 1941
Brigadier generals of the Philippine Army The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a U.S. territory during World War II, and Filipinos were United States nationals. The Philippine Army was created in 1935 to prepare the Philippines to become independent in 1946 with its own independent military. Many U.S. military officers became officers in the new Philippine Army, the most famous amongst them being Field Marshal of the Philippine Army Douglas MacArthur. Because the Philippines was a part of the United States and the Philippine Army was, on President Franklin D. Roosevelt's orders, part of the United States Army Forces in the Far East and later part of the U.S. military in the South West Pacific Area, four Philippine Army general officers (all of whom held the rank of brigadier general) who were killed during World War II are listed here. Two Filipino graduates of West Point, Vicente Lim and Fidel Segundo, were killed in action during World War II while serving as generals for the Philippines and the United States. All served in the United States Army during their careers before being promoted to brigadier general in the Philippine Army.