Hobart R. Gay

Lieutenant General Hobart Raymond Gay (May 16, 1894 – August 19, 1983), nicknamed "Hap", was a United States Army general.

Early military career
He was first commissioned into the Army Reserve as a 2nd lieutenant following his graduation from Knox College in 1917. On October 26, 1917, Gay was commissioned into the Regular Army. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on October 26, 1917 and captain in July 1920. In his early career, he was a cavalry officer. He transferred to the Quartermaster Corps June 11, 1934 and was promoted to major on August 1, 1935. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 18, 1940 and colonel on December 24, 1941. As a captain, he tutored author Robert A. Heinlein in equitation and musketry.

World War II
General Gay was awarded the Silver Star in December 1942 for gallantry in action on November 8, 1942 at Casablanca. He was chief of staff of the I Armored Corps in North Africa at the time. He was promoted to Brigadier General June 24, 1943. In the Sicily campaign he was assigned to the U.S. Seventh Army as chief of staff. Later he became chief of staff, Third Army, under General George S. Patton, in February 1944. When Patton took command of the U.S. Fifteenth Army, Gay was again his chief of staff. He and Patton went pheasant hunting on December 9, 1945. Patton and Gay were seated in the back seat of the staff car, en route to the hunting lodge. There was a traffic accident, during which Patton sustained spinal injuries which later cost him his life. General Gay was uninjured.

Post World War II Europe
After Patton's death, Gay assumed command of Fifteenth Army in January 1946 for a period of one month. He then became commander of the U.S. 1st Armored Division until its return to the United States later in 1946. He then assumed command of the Second Constabulary Brigade. He served in Europe until 1947, when he returned to the United States.

Gay returned to the United States and commanded the Military District of Washington until September 1949. During his command of the district, General John J. Pershing died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on 15 July 1948. In accordance with tradition, Gen. Gay coordinated arrangements for Pershing's funeral ceremonies as the representative of the U.S. President.

Korean War
In September 1949, Gay took command of the 1st Cavalry Division in Osaka, Japan. He brought the 1st Cavalry to Korea, where it was in action on July 19, 1950, joining in the general South Korean-U.S. retreat before the North Korean invasion force.

Over three days in late July, the division's 7th Cavalry Regiment and U.S. warplanes killed a large number of South Korean refugees at No Gun Ri, an event first confirmed by The Associated Press in 1999 and later acknowledged in a U.S. Army investigation. The South Korean government in 2005 certified the names of 163 No Gun Ri dead and missing and 55 wounded, and said many more likely were killed. On July 26, the day the No Gun Ri killings began, Gay told rear-echelon reporters he was sure most refugees fleeing south were North Korean infiltrators. Two days earlier, word had been sent from his operations staff to fire on all refugees trying to cross U.S. lines. Gay himself later described refugees as "fair game," and the U.S. ambassador in South Korea said such a policy had been adopted theater-wide. On August 4, 1950, after U.S. forces withdrew across the Naktong River, Gay ordered the blowing of the Waegwan bridge, killing hundreds of refugees trying to cross.

His 1st Cavalry Division then played a crucial, costly role in the successful last-ditch defense of the Pusan Perimeter, and joined in the breakout of U.S. and South Korean units headed north in September in conjunction with the landing of U.S. forces at Inchon. Gay's troops then led the strike across the 38th Parallel and into Pyongyang, capturing the North Korean capital on Oct. 19-20. Two weeks later, his 8th Cavalry Regiment was hit hard by newly arriving Chinese Communist forces at Unsan, north of Pyongyang, with one battalion left trapped when Gay's rescue efforts were ordered halted by his superior, I Corps commander Maj. Gen. Frank W. Milburn. The Chinese drove the 1st Cavalry Division and other U.S. forces from North Korea in December, and in early 1951 Gay, along with other top officers in Korea, was relieved of his command.

Gay was appointed deputy commander of the U.S. Fourth Army in February, 1951. In July 1952 he was appointed commander of U.S. VI Corps at Camp Atterbury, Indiana and in April, 1953 made commanding general of U.S. III Corps at Fort MacArthur, California. He moved to Fort Hood in Texas when the III Corps was reassigned there.

Post Korean War
In September 1954 General Gay was made commander of U.S. Fifth Army in Chicago, Illinois. He was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in October 1954 for promotion to Lieutenant General (temporary).

Hobart R. Gay’s career in the U.S. Army ended in 1955 as the Commanding General, Anti-aircraft and Guided Missile Center, Fort Bliss, Texas.

Retirement
Following retirement, Gay became superintendent of the New Mexico Military Institute.

He died in El Paso, Texas and was interred at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery.

Awards and decorations

 * US-DSC-RIBBON.png Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster
 * Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
 * SilverStar.gif Silver Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters
 * Legion of Merit ribbon.svg Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster
 * Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster
 * Air Medal ribbon.svg Air Medal
 * Army Commendation Medal ribbon.svg Army Commendation Ribbon
 * American Defense Service ribbon.svg American Defense Service Medal
 * European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
 * American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg American Campaign Medal
 * World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg World War II Victory Medal
 * Army of Occupation ribbon.svg Army of Occupation Medal
 * National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg National Defense Service Medal
 * KSMRib.svg Korean Service Medal
 * Dso-ribbon.png Distinguished Service Order
 * Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg Légion d'honneur  Chevalier
 * Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg   Légion d' honneur Officier
 * Ruban de la croix de guerre 1939-1945.PNG Croix de guerre
 * Order of the White Lion.svg Order of the White Lion Class II
 * Czechoslovak War Cross 1939-1945 Bar.png Czechoslovakian War Cross
 * United Nations Service Medal for Korea ribbon.png United Nations Service Medal

Media Portrayal

 * In the 1986 telefilm The Last Days of Patton, General Gay was portrayed by Murray Hamilton. In the original theatrical film Patton (1970), the character of Brigadier General Hobart Carver, played by Michael Strong, was based on Gay.

External references

 * Who's Who in America, 1966–1967, Vol. 34. Chicago:Marquis Who's Who, p. 759.