Kenneth E. Fields

Kenneth E. Fields (1 February 1909 – 1 July 1996) was a United States Army officer who commanded the 1159th Engineer Combat Group in the Battle of Remagen during World War II, for which he was awarded the Silver Star for valor.

Fields graduated as top cadet from the United States Military Academy class of 1933 and was commissioned in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He earned master's degrees in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1938 and from Harvard University in 1939. After World War II ended he joined the Manhattan Project. He became the assistant to the director for military applications at the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1947 and became its general manager upon his retirement from the Army in 1955.

Early life

Kenneth E. Fields was born in Elkhart, Indiana, on 1 February 1909, He attended Elkhart High School, where he joined the varsity American football team in 1924, his junior year, when the team went undefeated and went on to win the state championship. The following year he was a punter and fullback on a team that lost only one game.

Fields secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from Andrew J. Hickey of Indiana's 13th congressional district, and entered West Point on 1 July 1929. At West Point he played varsity baseball, winning two major letters, and college football, distinguishing himself as a kicker and winning three football A's. In his final year the West Point football team lost only two games, and it defeated the arch-rival Navy team in all three years that he played on the team. He won seven awards, including the Knox Trophy for the cadet with the highest rating for military efficiency. He married Frederica Hastings in April 1934. They had two sons and a daughter. He was also awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his service as commander of the 1159th Combat Engineer Group.

On 21 June 1945, Fields became the director of the Army's athletic program in the European Theater of Operations. He returned to the AEC on 20 August 1951 as the Director of Military Applications. In this role he worked with Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover on the development of the nuclear submarine.

Fields died at the Homestead, a nursing home in Stamford, Connecticut, on 1 July 1996.

Dates of rank