Hershey, Lewis Blaine, 1893-1977

Lewis Blaine Hershey (September 12, 1893 – May 20, 1977) was the Director of the Selective Service System of the United States. An Indiana native, Hershey joined the National Guard in 1911. His unit served at the Mexican border in 1916. After World War I, he moved to the Army and became a captain in 1920. He also taught military science at Ohio State University and, as a active volunteer, earned several prestigious Scouting awards. In 1936, he was made secretary of the Joint Army and Navy Selective Service Committee.

When Congress established the first peacetime draft in September 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted Hershey to brigadier general and named him an executive officer, Deputy Director, of the Selective Service. The following year he became director (1941-1970), serving through World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Amid antiwar protests, President Nixon removed him from office in 1970, but promoted him to the rank of full general. Hershey retired from the Army in 1973.

After retirement, he remained active in his home state as a trustee of his alma mater, Tri-State College in Angola, Indiana. He underwent surgeryv to remove a blood clot from his brain at Walter Reed Hospital on Feb. 24, 1977. Hershey remained hospitalized for about a month and then was allowed to return to his home in Bethesda, but went back to Walter Reed as an outpatient. On May 20, 1977, he died in his sleep in his motel room in Angola, Indiana where he had gone to attend a board meeting for his alma mater and planned to attend graduation exercises a few days later. Hershey was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Although he had never been in actual combat, he received the Distinguished Service Medal from President Truman in 1946. He also held the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and American Legion Distinguished Service Medal.