EICHELBERGER, ROBERT LAWRENCE (1886-1961)

Robert Lawrence Eichelberger, born in Urbana, Ohio, on 9 March 1886, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy* in 1909 and was assigned to the 10th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He served with the 10th during the Punitive Expedition in Mexico and later in Panama. During World War I, Eichelberger served on the staff of the 8th Division, which was sent to Siberia, not Europe. Feeling that his career was at a standstill, Eichelberger transferred from the infantry to the Adjutant General’s Corps in 1924. Over the next sixteen years, he attended the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth and the Army War College. He held a number of staff positions, including adjutant general and secretary of the Academic Board at the Military Academy, and secretary, General Staff, under the Chief of Staff of the Army. In October 1940 Eichelberger became the Academy’s superintendent. In January 1942, as a major general, he took command of the 77th Infantry Division. Seven months later, Eichelberger and his staff sailed for Australia. From 1942 to 1944, he commanded I Corps, participating in the New Guinea and New Britain campaigns and the reconquest of the Philippines. From 1944 to 1948 he commanded the Eighth Army and the Allied and U.S. Ground Forces, Japan. He retired as a lieutenant general on 31 December 1948 but returned to government service in 1950 as an advisor to the under secretary of the army, providing advice and counsel during the early stages of the Korean War. Retiring again in 1951, Eichelberger lived in Ashville, North Carolina, until his death on 27 September 1961.