Typed Letter, signed, dated May 31, 1945 with color facsimile of the shoulder patch of the XXIV Corps which is part of a printed XXIV Army Corps card signed by Lt Gen Hodges.
Item #27071
On the stationery of the Headquarters XXIV Corps, Office of the Commanding General. This items sent in response to a boy's request for an autograph and shoulder patch (which Hodge indicates he will send shortly but is not included here). After completing U.S. Army Officer Candidate School at Fort Sheridan, he entered military service as a second lieutenant of infantry in 1917. He served in World War I in France and Luxembourg. At the beginning of World War II, Hodge served as chief of staff of the VII Corps under the command of Major General Robert C. Richardson Jr., located in California as a part of the Western Defense Command. He was promoted to the temporary rank of brigadier general in June 1942 and transferred to the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, where he was appointed assistant division commander and deputy of Major General Joseph Lawton Collins. The 25th Division was sent overseas to Guadalcanal in November 1942. Hodge stayed with 25th Division until April 1943, when he was promoted to the rank of major general and transferred to the temporary command of the 43rd Infantry Division, where he relieved Major General John H. Hester, who was exhausted from combat. Hodge commanded the 43rd Division during the combats in Northern Solomons and was decorated with Army Distinguished Service Medal for his service. From 1945 to 1948, Hodge was the military governor of South Korea under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK). He took his corps to Korea under orders of General MacArthur, landing at Incheon on 9 September 1945. He was the commanding officer receiving the surrender of all Japanese forces in Korea south of the 38th parallel. Hodge then returned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to command V US Corps from 1948 to 1950. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, he was named the commanding general of the US Third Army, based in the United States of America, and not in Korea.
Price: $75.00