|
Colt Model M .380 ACP serial number 135657
issued to Major General Wallace C. Philoon.
Major General Wallace Copeland Philoon was born in Auburn,
Maine, on October 13, 1883. He was a graduate of Edward
Little High School, Auburn, Maine. He received a A.B. degree
from Bowdoin College as a member of the class of 1905, a
B.S. degree from the United States Military Academy in 1909.
He played center on the football team, he was captain his
last year and served as a coach for three years following
his graduation. He was a graduate of the Army War College,
the Infantry School, advanced course, and a distinguished
graduate of the Command and General Staff School. He was an
instructor at the Command and General Staff School from 1929
to 1933 and received an honorary M.S. degree from Bowdoin
College in 1944.
For his military service, General Philoon served in Hawaii
from 1914 to 1917 and in China from 1919 to 1923. As
commanding officer of the Army post at Zamboanga, Philippine
Islands in 1934-35, General Philoon served on the War
Department General Staff from 1936 to 1940. He later went to
the Panama Canal Zone as Commander of the 14th Infantry
Regiment and in 1941 became chief of staff of the Panama
Canal Department, under Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews. He became
commander of the Infantry Replacement Training Center at
Fort McClellan, Alabama in April, 1942. In 1944, General
Philoon was promoted to deputy commander of the Alaskan
Department. His decorations include the Legion of Merit and
Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster.
Major General Philoon was elected and served as an Overseer
of Bowdoin College from 1941 to 1960, and he received
Bowdoin's Alumni Achievement Award in 1948. General Philoon
retired to Brunswick, Maine and lived for many years on
McKeen Street until his death on January 16, 1970.
Accompanying General Philoon's pistol is the original brown
WWII holster.
Philoon, Wallace C. BG, Pistol Auto
Cal .380, Shipped to: Fort McClellan, Ala. 9/26/44 5B-3398 -
Original RIA index card with record of issue.
USMA Howitzer Yearbook Class of 1909 -
Wallace C. Philoon, Auburn, Maine (right side)
[Source: New York Times, 01-Dec-1908]
FS94230..WATCH YOUR CREDIT..INTERNATIONAL
NEWS PHOTOS SLUG..(MAJOR TRUESDELL GRP)
December 17, 1941 - NEW DEPUTY COMMANDER OF
PANAMA CANAL DEPARTMENT
BALBOA, CANAL ZONE....NEWLY APPOINTED DEPUTY
COMMANDER OF THE PANAMA CANAL DEPARTMENT, MAJOR GENERAL KARL
TRUESDELL (CENTER) IS PICTURED UPON HIS ARRIVAL HERE
RECENTLY. ON THE LEFT IS BRIG. GENERAL WALLACE PHILOON,
CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE CARIBBEAN DEFENSE COMMAND ANd ON THE
RIGHT IS BRIG. GENERAL HARRY C. INGLES, SIGNAL OFFICER OF
THE CARIBBEAN DEFENSE COMMAND.
Gen. Philoon Deputy Commander in Alaska
- Brig. Gen. Wallace C. Philoon has succeeded Brig. Gen.
Frank L. Whittaker as deputy commander of the Alaskan
Department, according to an announcement. Gen, Philoon
recently was a visitor in this city, leaving several weeks
ago to assume his new command. His wife is spending
some time with her sister, Mrs. Walter F. Martin, North
Court street. Gen Philoon is a former chief of staff
of the Caribbean Defense Command and former commanding
general in the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Fort
McClellan, Ala. where he was stationed prior to his Alaskan
assignment.
[Source: The News, Frederick, MD,
4-Septermber-1944]
[Source: Lewiston Evening Journal 06 Sep
1944]
Brig. Gen Wallace Philoon Appointed
Deputy Commander Of Alaskan Department
HEADQUARTERS, ALASKAN DEPARTMENT – Brig.
Gen. Wallace C. Philoon, of Auburn, Maine, former chief of
staff of the Carribean Defense Command and commanding
general of the Infantry Replacement Training Center at Fort
McClellan, Ala., has succeeded Brig. Gen. Frank L. Whittaker
as deputy commander of the Alaskan Department, it was
announced recently by Lt. Gen. Delos C. Emmons, Alaskan
Department commander.
Commanding officer of the Army post at
Zamboanga, Philippine Islands in 1934-35, General Philoon
served on the War Department General Staff from 1936 to
1940. He later went to the Panama Canal Zone as Commander of
the 14th Infantry Regiment and in 1941 became chief of staff
of the Panama Canal Department, under Lt. Gen. Frank M.
Andrews. He became commander of the Infantry Replacement
Training Center at Fort McClellan in April, 1942, where he
had served until his present assignment. General Philoon
also served in Hawaii from 1914 to 1917 and in China from
1919 to 1923.
General Philoon is a graduate of Edward
Little High School, Auburn, Bowdoin College and also the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he was a classmate
of General Emmons. He played center on the football team, he
was captain his last year and served as a coach for three
years following his graduation. He is a graduate of the Army
War College, the Infantry School, advanced course, and a
distinguished graduate of the Command and General Staff
School. He was an instructor at the Command and General
Staff School from 1929 to 1933.
General Philoon’s wife lives at Frederick,
Maryland, and his only son, Wallace C. Philoon, Jr., was
recently inducted into the army from Bowdoin College where
he was a student. He is not stationed at Camp Wheeler,
Georgia.
His brother, James Philoon, is Androscoggin
County clerk of courts.
The new assignment for General Whittaker,
who recently was awarded the Legion of Merit for performance
of outstanding service during his tour of duty in Alaska,
has not been announced. General Whittaker, who was appointed
deputy commander early in 1943, was cited for the part he
played in directing the supply and transportation of several
large task forces during the Aleutian campaign.
[Source: Lewiston Evening Journal 06 Sep 1944]
Brigadier General Wallace C. Philoon
receives Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, 1944.
 |
Legion of Merit
SYNOPSIS: Major General Wallace
Copeland Philoon, United States Army, was
awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally
meritorious conduct in the performance of
outstanding services to the Government of the
United States as Commanding General Infantry
Replacement Training Center, Fort McClellan,
Alabama, from 1941 to 1944.
Action Date: 1941 - 1944
Service: Army
Rank: Major General
|
|
|
Legion of Merit
Awarded for actions during the World War II
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: Major General
Wallace Copeland Philoon, United States Army,
was awarded a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of
a Second Award of the Legion of Merit for
exceptionally meritorious conduct in the
performance of outstanding services to the
Government of the United States as Deputy
Commanding General Alaskan Department, from 1944
to 1945.
Action Date: 1944 - 1945
Service: Army
Rank: Major General
Company: Deputy Commanding General
Division: Alaskan Department |
The Lewiston Daily Sun
Tuesday Morning, September 11, 1945
TRUEMAN WANTS PHILOON RAISED
President Nominates Auburn Man for Major General
Brigadier General Wallace C. Philoon was
nominated for promotion to Major general, yesterday, by
President Truman. Another Maine man among six named for that
rank by the President was Frank E. Lowe of Portland, a
reserve officer and executive to the Senate War
Investigating Committee. The local man is a Regular Army
officer with 36 years of service. He has held executive
positions in the Caribbean and Alaska areas as well as in
continental United States during World War Two.
WON LEGION OF MERIT
General Philoon was born in Auburn and
graduated from Bowdoin College and West Point, the latter in
1909. In 1944, while commander of the Infantry Replacement
Training Center at Fort McClellan, Ala., he won the Legion
of Merit medal for "unusual foresight and forceful
leadership." Early in the war he was chief of staff of the
Caribbean Defense Command, and after the service at Fort
McClellan he was deputy commander of the Alaskan Department.
In 1942 General Philoon was named an overseer of Bowdoin
College. His brother, James E. Philoon, is Androscoggin
County Clerk.
General Lowe, an artillery captain in World War One, lived
in Maine form 1921 until he went back to the Army in 1940.
In 1933, he retired from the presidency of he Kennebec Wharf
and Coal Co. of Portland and Bath. He later was executive
secretary of the Associated Industries of Maine. He is a
native of Springfield, Mass.
Wallace C. Philoon (Photo ca. 1947-49)
Wallace C Philoon, Maine, Major General
Infantry, World Was I & II LM & OLC, Oct 13, 1883 - Jan 16,
1970,
Buried at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, Auburn, Maine
|
