John R. Guthrie
United States Army general
John Reiley Guthrie (20 December 1921 – 25 May 2009) was a United States Army four-star general who served as commanding general, United States Army Development and Research Command (DARCOM) from 1977 to 1981. In the 1980s, DARCOM was renamed United States Army Materiel Command.
Military career
Guthrie was born in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, on 20 December 1921. He attended Blair Academy, graduating in 1938, and graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1942. An honor graduate of the Princeton ROTC, he was commissioned a second lieutenant, Field Artillery Reserve, and immediately ordered to active duty. He was integrated into the Regular Army in July 1946, while on duty with the War Department General Staff. In October 1946, he was assigned to London, England as assistant to the military attaché, where he served for three years.
In November 1949, Guthrie returned to the United States and was assigned to the 39th Field Artillery Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Georgia. He served as battery commander and S-3 of the 39th at Fort Benning, Japan and Korea, until June 1951 when he was assigned as S-3, 3rd Infantry Division Artillery. During this period, he participated in operations against guerrillas in the Wonsan area, the evacuation from Hŭngnam, the reoccupation of Seoul and the spring Chinese offensive and United Nations counteroffensive.
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