Robert Lawrence Eichelberger (1886-1961) graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1909. During World War II, he was assigned command of the 77th Infantry Division, and in charge of the first offensive victory against Japanese land forces in Papua, New Guinea (January 1943). After the war, he was the commander of the army of occupation in Japan (1946-48). The collection consists of a scrapbook and correspondence of General Robert L. Eichelberger.

Robert Lawrence Eichelberger was born March 9, 1886 in Urbana, Ohio; entered Ohio State University in 1903, leaving two years later to attend the U.S. Military Academy, where he graduated in 1909; assigned as second lieutenant to the Tenth Infantry Regiment, which was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone in 1911; returned to U.S. in 1915 and named operations officer of the Eighth Division in 1918; ordered to Vladivostok to protect American interests during the Russian Revolution; became assistant chief of staff and later intelligence officer for General William S. Graves; remained in military intelligence, traveling in Japan and China before returning to the U.S. in 1921; promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1934, and assigned to War Department in 1935 as secretary to the General Staff; promoted to brigadier general in 1940 and named superintendent of West Point; assigned command of 77th Infantry Division, and in charge of first offensive victory against Japanese land forces in Buna, Papua, New Guinea in January 1943; further successful action in New Guinea and the Philippines in 1944-45; commander of the army of occupation in Japan, 1946-48; author of Our Jungle Road to Tokyo (1950) and Dear Miss Em: General Eichelberger's War in the Pacific, 1942-1945; retired to Asheville, North Carolina; he died on September 26, 1961.

1 oversize box

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