Charles S. O’Malley, Jr., Major General, United States Army (retired) died in St. Francis Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, of leukemia on June 17, 1993. Funeral services were held at Arlington National Cemetery.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy on June 12, 1937, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant before serving in World War II.
His World War II service was highlighted by commanding the Merauke Task Force – a combined force consisting of U.S., Dutch, Indonesian and Australian units – whose mission was to establish a base for protection of the left flank of Port Moresby, New Guinea, in early days of 1942.
Following his return from the Southwest Pacific Area in 1944, he served as a instructor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Military Art and Engineering at West Point until 1948. He then graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1949, following which he was assigned to the Far East Command. There, among other duties, he served as Executive Officer of the Far East Command Amphibious Training Center at Camp McGill, Japan.
He participated in the Korean War, first with X Corps and then as Chief-of-Staff of the 24th Infantry Division.
He returned to Japan in September 1951 and became Executive Officer of the Security Division, G-2, Far East Command.
He returned to the U.S. in 1952 to join the staff and faculty of Armed Forces Staff College. In 1955, he attended the National War College from which he graduated in June 1956. After a 19-month tour commanding the 35th Infantry Regiment, he became Chief-of-Staff of the 25th Infantry Division.
Upon his return to the U.S. in August 1959, he was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, Department of the Army. Served as the Deputy Director of Strategic Plans and Policy and as Chief of the Long Range Analysis Group. His next assignment was with the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group to Republic of China.
On August 4, 1964, he joined the 1st Armored Dision as Assistant Division Commander. He then assumed command of XII US Army Corps and Fort Devens on July 19, 1965. Prior to his retirement in 1969, had been the Commandign General of the Military District of Washington for two years, beginning in June 1967.
He was strongly interested in sports as a morale and health builder. His favorite sport was swimming. He enjoyed all types of music and played piano often for his own amusement.
He was survived by wife, Kate Foster O’Malley, and five children.
May 26, 1913-June 17, 1993.
He was buried with full military honors in Section 11, Grave 807-1, Arlington National Cemetery.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard