Lieutenant General Edward J. O’Neill was born in St. Albans, Vermont. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1924 with a commission in the Regular Army. He served in various infantry and staff positions and attended various Infantry, Command, and Staff schools. When the attack on Pearl Harbor took place, he was selected to become assistant G-4 (Logistics) in the VI Corps. He moved with the Corps to North Africa in 1943; and he had primary responsibility for logistical operations supporting the landings in Italy at Salerno, and Anzio, and on the coast of Southern France. For these landings he developed a unique roll-on, roll-off system for handling supplies, cutting handling time from 24 to 2 hours. By the end of the war, O’Neill was G-4 of Fifth Army in Northern Italy.
After the war, General O’Neill held a number of increasingly senior Pentagon positions, all of them connected with logistics. In 1952, he was promoted to Brigadier General. During the Korean War and the Hungarian Uprising in 1956, he was the commander responsible for managing the rapid build-up of American forces in Europe. In 1957 he became commander of the Army’s vital Communications Zone (COMZ) in Orleans, France, and he was chosen to select one of the Unknown Soldier candidates at Epinal, France. He commanded 1st Army from Fort Jay, Governor’s Island, New York, from 1960 to 1962. He received numerous American and foreign decorations including the American Bronze Star and Legion of Merit. He was also a devoted Catholic who received a number of medals and honors from the Vatican. He received honorary degrees from Sienna College and Norwich University. He died in 1979.
From the guide to the Edward J. O’Neill papers, 1889-1978, (University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.)
