Charles Billingslea

Major General Charles Billingslea (May 16, 1914 – March 14, 1989) was a highly decorated United States Army officer. A graduate of the United States Military Academy (USMA) and a trained parachutist, Billingslea received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), the second highest decoration in the United States Armed Forces for heroism in combat, during World War II.

He was in the same class as future distinguished generals Creighton Abrams, Richard H. Carmichael, Albert P. Clark, Benjamin O. Davis Jr., Joseph J. Nazzaro, Bruce Palmer Jr., William T. Ryder, William P. Yarborough and William Westmoreland. Billingslea graduated with Bachelor of Science on June 12, 1936, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Infantry Branch. He was subsequently ordered to Hawaii, where he joined the 19th Infantry Regiment.

Billingslea and his regiment spent the next two weeks with intensive combats, before assuming defensive positions in the vicinity of the town of Katerbosch. He subsequently commenced counter-attack before dawn and under cover of fog which lifted without warning in mid-morning and exposed his forces to intense artillery fire. Key officers and men became casualties, but Billingslea moved among the disorganized company, restored command and assumed the initiative in the face of determined resistance from numerous German strongpoints in Katerbosch. He personally directed the house-to-house reduction of the enemy and his presence in this critical zone inspired officers and men to emulate his conduct in a fight for the town which lasted all day and through the night. In this valiant and successful assault on Katerbosch, Billingslea defeated powerful German efforts to break through Mook and sever the Allied corridor in Germany.

Postwar service Following the surrender of Nazi Germany, the 82nd Airborne Division was ordered to Berlin for occupation duty. Billingslea remained there until December 1945 and then returned with the division to the United States, arriving on January 3, 1946, aboard the . Upon his return stateside, he was attached to the planning staff of the Army Ground Forces at Fort Monroe, Virginia, and was reverted to his peacetime rank of captain on June 12, 1946.

Decorations Major General Charles Billingslea's ribbon bar: