Charles H. Corlett

Major General Charles Harrison Corlett (July 31, 1889 – October 13, 1971), nicknamed "Cowboy Pete", was a senior United States Army officer who commanded troops in both the Pacific and European Theaters during World War II. He led the attack on Kiska in 1943 and commanded the 7th Infantry Division in the taking of Kwajalein in 1944. After D-Day he led the XIX Corps in pursuit of the retreating German Army through France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany.

Early life and military career

Corlett was born in Burchard, Nebraska on July 31, 1889, but lived most of his early life in Monte Vista, Colorado, where his father farmed and practiced law. He graduated from public high school in Monte Vista and worked on cattle ranches until he was 19. The following year he was appointed to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York. As a cadet there, his knowledge of horses earned him the nickname of "Cowboy Pete". He graduated from the USMA on June 12, 1913, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Signal Corps of the United States Army. In April 1916, he moved with the 30th Infantry Regiment to Eagle Pass, Texas, where action in the Pancho Villa Expedition was anticipated but didn't materialize. He then was assigned to Radio Company A, a horse and mule outfit, and used one of the earliest radios in the U.S. Army. His brigade was renamed Signal Corps, and he witnessed the early development of military aviation, which was then a branch of the Signal Corps.

Due to the American entry into World War I in April 1917, Corlett worked in the early organization and expansion of the Signal Corps and was its first commanding officer and executive. He served on the Western Front where, as Director of Signal Corps Supplies for the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), he was injured by mustard gas while laying communication lines at the front. He crossed the Rhine into Germany with the first American troops at Coblenz. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1918 at the very young age of 29. The war ended on November 11, 1918. For his service during the war he was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the citation for which reads:

Between the wars During the interwar period in the 1920s and 1930s, Corlett commanded various army detachments. He graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 1923 and the U.S. Army War College in Washington, D.C., in 1925. He was an instructor at the United States Army Coast Artillery School and at U.S. Army Command and General Staff School. He was a member of the General Staff of the War Department from 1934 to 1939. While he was there he was promoted to lieutenant colonel on February 1, 1936. He commanded regiments in Hawaii, California, Washington, and Alaska from 1939 to 1941. He was promoted again, now to the temporary rank of colonel, on June 26, 1941, but just three months later he was further promoted, now to the general officer rank of brigadier general, on September 30.

Kiska

Although World War II had begun in September 1939, the United States chose to remain neutral and did not enter the conflict until December 8, 1941, due to the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day. Corlett was promoted to the temporary rank of major general on September 6, 1942