Samuel D. Sturgis, Jr.

Samuel Davis Sturgis, Jr. (July 16, 1897 - July 5, 1964) was an American soldier. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and came from a military family. Both his father, Samuel D. Sturgis, and grandfather, also named Samuel D. Sturgis, were West Point graduates and major generals.

Sturgis graduated from West Point in 1918. As a junior engineer officer he taught mathematics at the academy for four years.

In 1926, he was ordered to the Philippines, where he served as Adjutant of the 14th Engineers. His strategical studies of the islands over a three-year period developed knowledge he used later when he returned to the Philippines in 1944 as Chief Engineer of General Walter Krueger's Sixth U.S. Army.

Sturgis commanded a mounted engineer company at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1929-1933 and encouraged the adoption of heavy mechanical equipment. He was district engineer in 1939-1942 for Vicksburg, Mississippi, where he worked on flood control and a large military construction program. He served as chief engineer of the Sixth Army in 1943-1946.

During World War II, Sturgis' engineer troops built roads, airfields, ports, and bases from New Guinea to the Philippines.

After the war, Sturgis was senior engineer for the army air forces in 1946-1948 and was Missouri River Division Engineer in 1949-51. In 1951, he became the Commanding General of the 6th Armored Division and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

In 1952, he was appointed Commanding General of the Communications Zone supporting the United States Army in Europe. He became Chief of Engineers on March 17, 1953. He died July 5, 1964, in Washington, D.C.

His military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.


 * Distinguished Service Medal ribbon.svg Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster
 * SilverStar.gif Silver Star
 * Legion of Merit ribbon.svg Legion of Merit
 * Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star