Joseph S. Kimmitt

Colonel Joseph Stanley Kimmitt was commissioned a Field Artillery Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class 21 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 13 July 1942. He commanded Battery C, 309th Field Artillery Battalion, 78th Infantry Division, during combat operations in France, Belgium, and Germany during 1944-1945. His unit fought in the Battle of the Bulge, crossed the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine River, and occupied Berlin after hostilities ceased. | During the Korean War, he commanded the 48th Field Artillery Battalion of the 7th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star Medal for Valor during the battles of Pork Chop Hill and Old Baldy. | During peacetime, he served as 8th Infantry Division Artillery Commander in Baumholder, Germany, and as Chief of Senate Legislative Liaison for the Secretary of the Army in Washington, D.C. After retiring in 1966, he served for 15 years as Secretary for the Majority and Secretary of the United States Senate. | Colonel Kimmitt graduated from the Artillery Officers Advanced Course, Command & General Staff College, the Naval War College, and Airborne School. His awards and decordations in addition to the Silver Star and Bronze Star with V device, are the Legion of Merit, three Bronze Stars for meritorious service, four Army Commendation Medals, and the Ethiopian Medal of Menelik II for combat command of an Ethiopian battery attached to his battalion in Korea.