THE COMMANDERS 

On this page you can find an overview of the various commanding officers of the 106th Infantry Division, its organic and attached units. Short biographies are available for these individuals.

General Officers

Alan W. Jones Sr.

Major-General, Commanding
23 March 1943 - 22 December 1944
Born in Glendale, Washington 1893. Attended the University of Washington with an education as a Chemical Engineer.  In 1917 Jones was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army and served in Europe with the 43rd Infantry.  He became Assistant Division Commander of the 90th Infantry Division before assuming command of the 106th in March 1943.  On 22 December 1944 he suffered a heart attack and was succeeded by his assistant Commander, Brig-Gen. Herbert T. Perrin. He passed away at the age of 73 on 22 January 1969 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Decorations: PH, LOH, French Croix de Guerre

Herbert T. Perrin

Brigadier-General, Commanding
22 December 1944 - 9 February 1945
Born on 5 September 1893 in Wisconsin. Was a 1916 graduate of Kenyon College and a graduate of the Class of 1917 at Princeton University. Perrin served in the Adjutant General’s Department from 1934 till 1938. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Perrin was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned Assistant to the Division Commander of the newly formed 106th Infantry Division. On 22 December 1944 General Perrin assumed command of the 106th until February 7, 1945, when he was succeeded by Major-General Donald A Stroh. General Herbert Perrin passed away at his home in Gambier, Ohio on 9 June 1962 as a result of a stroke and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Decorations: DSC, LOM, French Legion d'Honneur and French Croix de Guerre with palms.

Donald A. Stroh

Major-General, Commanding
9 February 1945 - 16 August 1945
Donald Stroh was born on November 3, 1892 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He attended Michigan Agricultural College and was a member of the Cadet Corps. He entered the service in June 1917 as a lieutenant in the Cavalry but did not see service in Europe. He served in a variety of positions before being promoted to Brigadier General In July 1942. As assistant commanding general of the 9th Infantry Division he served in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. During the fighting in Brittany his son Harry, a 9th AAF pilot,  was killed in action. Stroh assumed command of the 8th Infantry Division in July and was promoted to Major-General in August 1944. In November 1944 he commanded the 8th Division in the Hürtgen Forest before taking command of the 106th in February 1945 and leading the division in its final combat role to breach the Siegfried Line north of the Losheim Gap. He retired from the military in 1949 and  died of complications from his wartime disabilities in 1953. 

Decorations: DSC, BSM, LOM for his combat roles in North Africa and Sicily. A second LOM for the capture of Cherbourg. 

Francis A. Woolfley

Major-General, Commanding
16 August 1945 - 2 October 1945
Francis Augustus Woolfley was born on April 30, 1893 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He joined the service in 1917. In World War I, he was a captain and company commander of Company "M", 56th Infantry, 7th Division, serving in Alsace Lorraine and during the Meuse-Argonne offensive.  He was promoted to Brigadier General in 1943 and became Assistant Division Commander, 76th Infantry Division, serving at various posts in the U.S. and in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. In August of 1945, he succeeded Major General Donald Stroh as commanding General of the 106th Infantry Division. General Woolfley was the 106th’s last commanding General. He retired from active duty on April 30, 1953 at the age of 60. General Woolfley died September 16, 1993 at the age of 100.

Decorations: LOM, SSM with Oak Leaf Cluster, BSM with Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal, French croix de Guerre, Belgian Croix de Guerre and decorations from the Luxembourg and Russian Governments.

Leo T. McMahon

Brigadier-General, Commander Division Artillery
10 December 1943 - 10 September 1945
Leo T. McMahon was born on July 31, 1893 in Rome, New York. He attended Andover Academy in Massachusetts and was a graduate of Union College, NY. McMahon entered the army in November of 1917 and served with the 18th Cavalry in France during the Marne Defense and the Meuse-Argonne battles and was also a member of the Army of Occupation. In January 1941 he became G-2 officer of the 28th Infantry Division. After Pearl Harbor, McMahon was G-2 of II and XI Corps and participated in the North African invasion in the summer of 1942. Later he led the 65th Field Artillery before becoming the commander of the 106th’s Divisional Artillery on 10 December 1943. After VE-Day, General McMahon was appointed Commander of the XXIII Corps Artillery in the occupation forces until 1946. He retired from active duty in 1948. Brigadier General Leo T. McMahon died on September 28, 1987 at the age of 94. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
 
Decorations: LOM, BSM, WWI Victory Medal with two campaign clasps, DSM.

General Staff Officers

William C. Baker Jr.

Colonel, Chief of Staff
23 March 1943 - 2 October 1945
William Clyde Baker Junior was born in 1904 in North Carolina. He was brought up in Tennessee. He graduated from West Point with the class of 1926 and was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. He attended Cornell University where he received his CE degree in 1928. After service with the Engineers at various posts and camps, he graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1938. When the 106th Infantry Division was organised in March 1943 he was assigned as the Chief of Staff. He remained with the division in that capacity during its whole service. In September 1945, when the Division was ordered back to the States to be demobilised, he was transferred to other duty in Germany. After 30 years of loyal service to his country, Baker retired as a Major General on 31 May 1964. He passed away at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C. on 6 October 1966 and was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Decorations: LOM, BSM with Oak Leaf Cluster

Max J. Roadruck

Lt. Colonel, Assistant Chief of Staff G-1
1943-1945

Max James Roadruck was born on 29 September 1909 in Indiana. He joined the service on 10 July 1936 and was later commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. He graduated from the General Staff College in 1943 and was appointed as G-1 Officer in the 106th Infantry Division, a position which he would hold for the duration of the war. He died on 29 November 1987.


Decorations: LOM with Oak Leaf Cluster, BSM

Milton S. Glatterer

Lt. Col., Assistant Chief of Staff G-4
1943-1945

Milton Skerrett Glatterer was born on 8 September 1909 in New Jersey. He graduated from West Point as a member of the Class of 1932. He was promoted to Lt. Colonel in September 1940. During WWII he served with the 1st Armored Division before becoming Division G-4 Officer for the 106th in 1943. He retired with the rank of Colonel and died on 20 January 2000 in San Antonio, Texas.


Decorations: LOM with Oak Leaf Cluster, BSM with Oak Leaf Cluster.

John R. Kimmell Jr.

Lt. Colonel,  Assistant Chief of Staff G-3
18 February 1945 - 2 October 1945

John Robert Kimmell Junior was born on 6 August 1911 in Virginia. He graduated from West Point as a member of the class of 1933. He attended the Infantry School and the Naval War College. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on 12 January 1943. On 18 February 1945 he was appointed as Divisional G-3 Officer when Lt. Colonel Brock reported for service with the 424th Infantry Regiment. He died on 21 February 1977.



Decorations: LOM

Regimental Commanders

George L. Descheneaux Jr.

Colonel, 422nd Infantry Regiment
2 April 1944 - 19 December 1944

George Louis Descheneaux Junior was born on 30 November 1908 in Massachussets. He graduated from West Point as a member of the Class of 1932. Before joining the 106th Division in April 1944, Descheneaux had served with the US Fifth Army in Italy as a liaison officer. Descheneaux first served as the 106th Division G-3 Officer  and later took command of the 422nd Infantry Regiment. He surrendered the remnants of his Regiment on 19 December 1944 near Laudesfeld, Germany. As a prisoner of warn in Oflag 79 he contracted TB, for which he was medically discharged from the Army in 1946. He died on 14 July 1984 and was buried at the West Point Post Cemetery.


Decorations: BSM

Charles C. Cavender

Colonel, 423rd Infantry Regiment
15 March 1943 - 19 December 1944
Charles Carlton Cavender was born on 2 October 1897 in Grapevine, Texas.  He attended his second year at Texas' A&M Campus when he joined the Army in November 1917 and was sent to France as part of a Field Signal Battalion of the 5th Infantry Division.  During the battle for the Argonne in 1918, he was selected to compete for an appointment to West Point.  Cavender graduated a member of the class of 1923.  In March 1943 he took command of the 423rd Infantry Regiment. After being forced to surrender the remnants of his Regiment on 19 December 1944 near Schönberg, Belgium, Cavender was sent to Stalag IX-B and later to Oflag XIII-B, Hammelburg.  While being marched through Nuremberg on 5 April 1945, Cavender sustained injuries from an American saturation bombing. He underwent surgery in England and continued the war doing occupational duties in Japan. Cavender returned to the US in 1950, where he was a post commander at Fort MacArthur.  He retired from the military in 1953. He died at the age of  97 in 1995. 

Decorations: LOM, BSM, PH, POW Medal, WWI and WWII Victory Medals and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Alexander D. Reid

Colonel, 424th Infantry Regiment
1 August 1944 - 15 January 1945
Alexander Davidson Reid was born on 15 February 1901 in North Dakota. He graduated from West Point as a member of the Class of 1923, being a classmate of Colonel Charles Cavender. He served as a staff officer and Assistant Chief of the North African-European Theater Sector of SHAEF. Reid took command of the 424th Infantry in August 1944 at Camp Atterbury. During the attack on Ennal on 15 January 1945 he was wounded in the hip. He died on 1 September 1974.

Decorations: LOM, BSM, PH.

Artillery Battalion Commanders

Thomas P. Kelly Jr.

Lt. Colonel, 589th Field Artillery Battalion

After the war kelly returned to his father’s law practice in Tampa, Florida and continued to practice trial law for fifty-six more years until his 92nd birthday. Colonel Kelly died on 5 August 2008 and was buried at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Tampa.


Decorations: BSM

Vaden M. Lackey

Lt. Colonel, 590th Field Artillery Battalion
15 March 1943 - 19 December 1944
After the war Col. Lackey returned to civilian life and became a coal broker. He died on 18 March 1978 and was buried at the Nashville National Cemetery. 

Decorations: BSM

Philip F. Hoover

Lt. Colonel, 591st Field Artillery Battalion
UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Richard E. Weber Jr.

Lt. Colonel, 592nd Field Artillery Battalion
After retiring from the military in 1964 he took a job as an administrator for the Kansas General Hospital and later became an independent tax preparer. Col. Weber passed away on 7 September 2002 and was buried at the West Point Post Cemetery. 

Decorations: LOM, BSM

Supporting units

Thomas J. Riggs, Jr.

Lt. Colonel, 81st Combat Engineer Battalion
Riggs was born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1916. He attended the US Naval Academy and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1941. In 1942 he was commissioned as an officer in the Engineer Corps. As Division Engineer of the 106th, he commanded its organic Combat Engineer Battalion. Riggs was defense commander of St. Vith before being superseded by General Bruce C. Clarke. Riggs commanded the Prümerberg defense and was captured on 21 December 1944. He escaped from Oflag 64 in Poland and was found by a Russian tank unit. He returned to command his Battalion until the end of the war. After the war he served as military attaché to Mexico and later persued a bussiness career. Riggs died in 1998.

Decorations: SSM

Last updated 18 July 2016

Links

FLAG OF FRIENDSHIP - Annual ceremony honoring  the 106th

HISTORY OF THE 106TH - Combat history of the Division

MONUMENTS - Following the historic path of the 106th

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