DePuy, William E. (William Eugene), 1919-1992

William E. DePuy graduated from South Dakota State College in 1941 and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant of Infantry from the Reserve Officers Training College (ROTC) program. He served with the 357th Infantry in Europe during World War II and was G-3 of the 90th Division at war's end. He went directly to the Command and General Staff College and then served on the War Department General Staff. His assignments were mostly in various staff positions; thus, DePuy did not serve in the Korean War. In 1953, he attended the Armed Forces Staff College and then was assigned as commanding officer (CO), 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division in Budingen, Germany. In 1960, he attended the British Imperial Defense College in London followed by 18 months in Schweinfurt, Germany, commanding the 1st Battle Group, 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division. In 1964, he became the Assistant Chief of Staff (C of S), J3 U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) and from March 1966 to March 1967, he was commanding general (CG), 1st Infantry Division, U.S. Army Vietnam (USARV) where he was promoted to major general on 1 April 1966. Back in the states, he again held various staff assignments until he was promoted lieutenant general and assumed duties of Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Army. His final assignment was commanding general, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Fort Monroe, Virginia, where he retired on June 30, 1977.

William E. DePuy was born in 1919. He graduated from ROTC in 1941 and attended the Army Command and General Staff College, Armed Forces Staff College, British Imperial Defense College. DePuy served as an infantry officer during World War II (WWII) with the 357th Infantry Regiment of the 90th Division. In Vietnam he commanded the 1st Infantry Division. He is the holder of two Distinguised Service Crosses, three Silver Stars and the Distinquised Flying Cross for Valor.

William Eugene DePuy (b. Oct. 1, 1919, Jamestown, N.D.-d. Sept. 9, 1992), U.S. Army officer, a principal architect of the restructuring of U.S. Army doctrine following the American withdrawal from Vietnam, was a college graduate commissioned as an officer in the Infantry in 1941. He landed on Utah Beach the 8th of June 1944, serving with the 90th Infantry Division as an operations officer and battalion commander and fighting through the Battle of the Bulge. Following the War, he served in myriad command and staff positions, studied Russian, and was assigned as acting Army Attaché in Hungary. Deployed to Vietnam in 1964, General DePuy served as Chief of Staff of Operations for Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, and later commanded the 1st Infantry Division. He was the first commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, helping to create a new, innovative fighting doctrine for the Army. He retired from active duty in July 1977.