Gordon Sumner, Jr.

Lieutenant General Gordon Sumner, Jr. was commissioned a Cavalry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class 63, 2 June 1944. His first duty assignment was as Platoon Leader 77th Tank Battalion. | Lieutenant General Gordon Sumner, Jr., enlisted in the United States Army on 1 November 1942 and was called to active duty on 15 June 1943. He completed basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and was selected to attend Armored Officer Candidate School where he graduated first in his class on 2 June 1944. After duty with various armored units, he was assigned as an instructor at Armored Officers Candidate School. In 1945, Sumner joined the Second Infantry Division that was preparing to lead the assault on the Japanese homeland as part of Operation CORONET. As a Lieutenant in 1945, Sumner accepted a Regular Army Commission. He was posted to duty in Korea and served there from 1946 through 1948. Sumner then returned in 1950 with the First Cavalry Division and participated in the Fall and Winter campaigns. In November 1950, he was wounded and captured by Chinese Forces northeast of Pyongyang. Escaping after two days, he was medically evacuated to Japan. His next assignment was on General Douglas MacArthur’s staff, serving as the General’s speechwriter. | Following a variety of assignments around the world, General Sumner commanded the Division Artillery of the 25th Division during the intense combat of 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam. He was late Chief of Staff of the 25th Infantry Division. These combat assignments were followed by a series of high-level staff assignments in Washington, D.C. These included, Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense as well as Director of the Middle East Task Group during the 1973 Arab-Israeli (6 October) War. Sumner was promoted to Major General in July 1973. In August 1975 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and assigned as Chairman of the Inter-American Defense Board, the international military organization of the Rio Treaty. As Chairman, he worked directly with the Heads of State of all of the nations in the Western Hemisphere. | Lieutenant General Sumner retired from active military service at his own request on 31 May 1978. He served as Consultant, Chairman of the Board Sumner Associates, Santa Fe, New Mexico.