Lee S. Gerow

Lee Saunders Gerow (March 29, 1891 – May 19, 1982) was a decorated brigadier general in the United States Army who served in World War I and World War II. He was the younger brother of Leonard T. Gerow. During World War II, he was the assistant division commander of the 85th Infantry Division from 1943 to 1945, serving with it in the Italian campaign.

Early military years Lee Saunders Gerow was born in Petersburg, Virginia, on March 29, 1891, the son of Leonard Rogers Gerow, a railroad conductor, and Annie Eloise Saunders. He had three brothers, including Leonard Townsend Gerow, and a sister.

Despite his class standing, Gerow failed to secure an appointment in the Regular Army, and went to work for an engineering firm in Florida. He then received an offer of a teaching position at the Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tennessee. While there he met his future wife, Margaret. When Congress created an additional 200 officer positions in the Regular Army, Gerow passed the qualifying examination and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry Branch on November 30, 1916. He was assigned to the 36th Infantry and served on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa Expedition. After the crisis passed, he was transferred to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where he was appointed a company commander and promoted to first lieutenant, backdated to the November 30, 1916. He was promoted to the rank of captain the next year, and then to major. Gerow was appointed a commander of the newly activated 338th Infantry, which was part of the 85th Infantry Division, under the command of Major General Wade Hampton Haislip. The regiment, which was stationed at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, conducted its basic infantry training under his direction. When Haislip became commander of XV Corps in February 1943, the assistant division commander, Brigadier General John B. Coulter, became division commander and Gerow succeeded him as assistant division commander, on Haislip's recommendation,

The 85th Infantry Division participated in the subsequent fighting in the Italian campaign, including the Third Battle of Monte Cassino in May 1944, the Gothic Line battles later that year and the Po Valley campaign in 1945. Most notably, due to the illness of its commander, Gerow led the 338th Infantry in the Battle of Altuzzo. The 85th Infantry Division returned to Hampton Roads in August 1945. Gerow's decorations included the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Commendation Ribbon with oak leaf cluster and the French Croix de guerre 1939-1945.

Gerow died from pneumonia on May 19, 1982, in the Veterans Health Administration Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His papers are held by the Virginia Military Institute Archives.