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July 24, 2010

General Matthew B. Ridgway (1895-1993)

Born March 3, 1895, Fort Monroe, Va., U.S.
Died July 26, 1993, Fox Chapel, near Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.

The available item is General Ridgway's ORIGINAL 1955 U.S. Army Retirement Document.  Exceptionally Well Done, Custom Printed and Signed by United States Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens, and presented on the occasion of Ridgway's retirement on June 30th, 1955.  This is a large format (approx. 15" x 19") period framed document.

In World War II, Ridgway commanded the 82nd Airborne Division, the first U.S. airborne division in combat.  He led his division in the Sicily and Normandy Campaigns. Ridgway also commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps, in
charge of all U.S. airborne troops in Europe.

In 1950, Ridgway assumed command of 8th Army in Korea.  He succeeded Douglas MacArthur in the Far East Command in 1951.  Ridgway not only played an important role in the Korean War, but also oversaw the return of Japan to full sovereignty.

In 1952, Ridgway replaced Dwight Eisenhower as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe under NATO.  In 1953, Ridgway became Army Chief of Staff, and he retired in 1955.  Ridgway was (1955-60) chairman of the board of trustees of the Mellon Institute for Industrial Research in Pittsburgh. His memoirs, entitled SOLDIER, were published in 1956.

General Ridgway lived in Pittsburgh after his retirement.  In 1988, the University of Pittsburgh opened the Ridgway Center for International Security Studies, a graduate school. 

General Ridgway is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

"Secretary Pace came over, took the phone call," recalls retired Army colonel Harry Maihafer of the day he witnessed a moment in history. "Then, he and General Ridgway went outside...as I recall, it was raining cats and dogs and a hail storm was going on. And they came back in and General Ridgway looked as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders." Maihafer's description is surely accurate: Ridgway had just been informed that President Truman had relieved General MacArthur, and that he was now in charge of the war in Korea.

As difficult as the situation in Korea was, it's hard to imagine a commander better suited to handling it than Matthew Bunker Ridgway. Like MacArthur, he had literally spent his entire life in the U.S. Army. The son of an artillery colonel, Ridgway graduated from West Point in 1917, where the yearbook described him as, "Beyond doubt, the busiest man in the place." Having just missed the fighting in France, Ridgway worked his way through a series of peacetime assignments, including stints in China, Nicaragua, and the Philippines. But in 1942 he was named commander of the 82nd Division, just before it was turned into one of the army's new elite airborne divisions. He made the most of it, leading the 82nd into Normandy on D-Day before moving on to a corps command. "A kick-ass man," one subordinate said of Ridgway, who became known as "Tin-tits" among his men for the hand grenades prominently strapped to his chest at all times.

MacArthur had known and thought highly of Ridgway since the early 1920s, when he placed the young captain in charge of physical education at West Point. With his keen intelligence, aggressive instincts, and reputation as a fighter, Ridgway was the logical choice to take over the 8th Army when General Walker was killed in a jeep accident in December of 1951. Even though his forces were losing badly -- they were in the midst of the longest retreat in U.S. military history -- MacArthur exhibited complete trust in his new commander. "The Eighth Army is yours, Matt. Do what you think best."

Ridgway did not let him down. While MacArthur railed against Washington, telling the Joint Chiefs that his forces faced annihilation if he could not expand the war into China, Ridgway managed to stop the retreat roughly seventy mile south of Seoul. Then in mid-January he started north, and he did it all within the parameters set by Washington. "Ridgway took hold of the Eighth Army, grabbed it by the throat, gave it a good shake, and straightened it out," says retired Marine commander Edwin Simmons. "If you had looked at a situation map at the end of December, 1950, you would have seen little blue dots all over the peninsula, little isolated U.N. positions -- no sign of coherence or integrity. He shook all that out. He reformed a line across the peninsula from one coast to the other, and then he began a deliberate, buttoned-up offensive a step at a time: good artillery support, good air support, identify your objectives and take them." Ridgway's offensive, known as the "meatgrinder" because of the heavy casualties it inflicted on the Chinese and North Koreans, moved slowly north until the U.N. had recaptured Seoul and reached the 38th parallel.

Ironically, MacArthur pushed Truman too far just when Ridgway had stabilized the situation in Korea. In fact, after Ridgway assumed overall command, the military situation changed very little. For the next two years, the armies traded casualties along defensive lines near the 38th parallel, the border between the two countries when the war began. Despite Ridgway's able leadership, cease-fire negotiations begun in mid-1951 dragged on until Ridgway left the following spring. Far from being punished, Ridgway left to replace General Eisenhower -- who was busy getting himself elected president -- as NATO Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe (1952). Ridgway took over the Army's top job, Chief of Staff, a year later (1953–55).  He retired in 1955.

MATTHEW BUNKER RIDGWAY:  A distinguished soldier who has led American and Allied troops in every theatre of action and at every level of command in peace and in combat, Matthew Bunker Ridgway has served his country with courage, steadfast dedication to duty, and a high sense of honor over a career spanning 38 years and three major wars. Less than two months after graduating from the Military Academy in April 1917, he commanded a company of the 3rd U.S. Infantry. Returning to West Point in 1918, Captain Ridgway taught Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages, served as an instructor in the Department of Tactics, and held the appointment of Graduate Manager of Athletics for three years. During the years between the world wars, Matthew Ridgway served in command and staff positions with the 15th, 9th, and 33rd Infantry Regiments, and with Second and Fourth Armies. His government also called on him to perform many key assignments in South and Central America, working with the American Electoral mission to Nicaragua and Secretary of the Nicaraguan National Board of Elections; as Secretary of the Commission of Inquiry and Conciliation for Bolivia and Paraguay; and accompanying the Chief of Staff designate, General George C. Marshall on a mission to Brazil in 1939. From the War Plans Division of the War Department General Staff in 1942, Matthew Ridgway joined the 82nd Infantry Division. He reorganized this unit as our first airborne division, and then commanded the division through some of the most difficult fighting in World War ll. General Ridgway's dynamic and outstanding leadership of the 82nd Airborne Division, and later, of the XVIII Airborne Corps, enabled American airborne troops to establish an enviable record of success in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes, and Central Europe. Always with his troops at the point of heaviest combat, he was twice awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, twice awarded the Silver Star, twice the Legion of Merit, twice the Distinguished Service Medal, twice the Bronze Star with "V" device for valor, and he was also wounded in action. At the end of the war, General Ridgway commanded the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. He then served as the United States Army Representative to the United Nations Military Staff Commission and as Senior United States Delegate to the Inter-American Defense Board. These assignments were again followed by a command tour as Commander-in-Chief, Caribbean Command. Recognized as the Army's leading field commander, General Ridgway was relieved as Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Army and reassigned as Commanding General, Eighth U.S. Army, Korea in 1950. In 1951, he replaced General MacArthur as Commander in Chief, Far East Command and Supreme Commander for Allied Powers General Ridgway took command of an Army that has suffered serious reverses and whose morale was low. His inspired leadership and indomitable spirit brought hope where there had been none before; his vigor of mind and his presence at every critical action brought success to a revitalized Army. A short tour as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe was followed by his final assignment on active duty, as Chief of Staff of the United States Army. Following his retirement, General Ridgway worked tirelessly in the interests of a strong national defense; he has authored numerous articles and books that have alerted this nation to the dangers of military complacency. General Matthew Ridgway's life epitomizes the very finest qualities of the American soldier. He was steadfast in battle, dauntless and tough-minded in the face of adversity, and always honest and perceptive in performing his duty at the highest levels of command. Throughout a military career that brought him to the pinnacle of his profession, he was dedicated to the principles and ideals that established this great nation. Accordingly, the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy takes pride in presenting the 1992 Distinguished Graduate Award to Matthew Bunker Ridgway, Class of April 1917.

The preceding information was collected from the following sites, and worthy of review for additional information.

http://www.chosinreservoir.com/general_matthew_b.htm

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ridgway.htm

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pandeAMEX88.html