Jack C. Fuson – Lieutenant General, United States Army

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Press report: Friday, February 20, 2004

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He had lived in Kingsmill since 1994. He previously lived in Ware Neck, Virginia.

General Fuson spent 37 years on active duty and 50 years in the military, starting in the Pacific theater during World War II with an engineer amphibious brigade and culminating as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics. He served in three wars and commanded transportation units in New Guinea, Korea, Germany, Vietnam and the United States.

He was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, and graduated from the Missouri Military Academy with a commission as a Second Lieutenant to be effective when he was 21 years of age.

In 1939, he entered Washington University in St. Louis and attended until he was called to active duty in December 1941. He was assigned to a unit that was sent to train in Australia, then spent the next years in combat in the South Pacific, conducting numerous amphibious beach assaults under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.

After the war, he served in California and Fort Eustis, Virginia, the first of three assignments there, with the last as Commanding General from 1973 until 1975.

General Fuson spent 35 years in transportation and logistics. He served in Korea as director of terminal operations in the Pusan port, and in Vietnam as commander of the Saigon port, as well as at U.S. bases and the Pentagon.

He attended the Transportation School, the Command and General Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal and many campaign ribbons.

General Fuson retired from the military in 1977, then was a consultant to the General Accounting Office for 10 years.

In retirement, he supported establishing the Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis and served several terms on its board. During the Yorktown bicentennial in October 1981, General Fuson served as military representative to the Yorktown Victory Celebration.

General Fuson was inducted into the inaugural class of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps Hall of Fame. He also served for more than seven years as a docent at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, Virginia. The museum plans to give him the 2003 docent of the year award.

Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Georgia Bahnsen Fuson of Kingsmill; two daughters, Nell Fuson Hacker and Jennie Fuson Hamm, both of Fairfax; three sons, J. Warren Fuson of Raleigh, North Carolina, Jack C. Fuson Jr. of Portland, Oregon, and Peter B. Fuson of Richmond; 15 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Missouri Military Academy

Retired Army Lieutenant General Jack C. Fuson, ‘39, second highest ranking alumnus, passes away.

Retired Army Lieutenant General Jack C. Fuson, died February 19, 2004, at his home in Kingsmill, Virginia.

General Fuson attended Missouri Military Academy from 1935 until 1939. As a three-star general, he was the second-highest ranking alumnus ever to graduate from the Academy.

After graduating from MMA, he received his Army commission as a Second Lieutenant. In 1939, General Fuson entered Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained until his studies were interrupted by the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He was assigned to the Engineer Amphibious Command at Camp Edwards, Mass. He spent the next three and a half years in combat in the South Pacific theatre, conducting numerous amphibious beach assaults under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.

When World War II ended, he returned to the United States and became part of the newly formed 532nd Engineer Battalion & Shore Regiment in Fort Ord, California. He was later transferred to Fort Eustis, Virginia, where he served as Commanding General from 1973 until 1975. General Fuson served as transportation general, and has been assigned to a number of posts in New Guinea, Korea, Germany, Vietnam and the United States. He retired in July of 1994.

General Fuson spent 50 years of his life perfecting the transportation branch of the US Army. Thirty-seven of those years were on active duty.

His most prestigious awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Legion of Merit with six oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal with an oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, and many campaign ribbons. His most important position was as the Army’s deputy chief of staff for logistics, which made him responsible for all Army logistics systems worldwide.

At MMA’s Centennial Jubilee in 1989, General Fuson received the Distinguished Service Award for his dedication to the Academy.

General Fuson was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on November 23, 1920. He was married to Georgia Bahnsen and had three sons, J. Warren Fuson, Jack C. Fuson, Jr., and Peter B. Fuson; and two daughters, Nell Fuson Hacker and Jennie Fuson Hamm.

FUSON, JACK C., LTG U.S. Army (Ret.)

Died February 15, 2004 at his home in Kingsmill, Virginia. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, March 30, 2004, 1 p.m., at the Memorial Chapel, Fort Myer. Interment with Full Military Honors will follow at Arlington National Cemetery.

TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS: ONE MAN’S STORY, by Jack C. Fuson. (1994; 227 pp., appendix, bibliography, illustrations, maps, index, prologue). CMH Pub 7062, cloth, GPO S/N 008-029-00314-7, $21.00; CMH Pub 70-62-1, paper. A first-person chronicle of logistical experience during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars by a former Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. This analytical account provides insight into effective transportation and logistics management for present and future Army leaders.

FUSON, JACK CARTER
LTG   US ARMY

  • VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 07/16/1946 – 07/31/1977
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 11/23/1920
  • DATE OF DEATH: 02/15/2004
  • DATE OF INTERMENT: 03/30/2004
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 46  SITE 466
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

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