Kester Lovejoy Hastings – Major General, United States Army

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Major General Kester L. Hastings

35th Quartermaster General of the Army
February 1954-March 1957

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As Quartermaster General implemented the new “Single Manager” which gave the Quartermaster Corps responsibility for wholesale supply of food and clothing to all the U.S. Armed Forces.

Kester Lovejoy Hastings was born in Lewiston, Idaho, March 20, 1897. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy on November 1, 1918, and was appointed as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. His first assignment was with the Infantry Machine Gun Center at Camp Hancock, Georgia.

He joined the Third Infantry Division with the Army of Occupation in Germany and in 1919 and later was tasked to settle World War I claims in Paris. In 1920, he became a senior instructor for the first West Point Preparatory School at Camp Grant, Illinois and later was assigned to duty as an adjutant at Fort Wayne, Michigan.

From 1925-26, Hastings was a student at the Signal School.   He then joined the Fourth Infantry at Fort Wright,  Spokane, Washington. In 1929, he was transferred to the 27th Infantry where he commanded the machine gun company until he became adjutant at Kilauea Military Camp, Hawaii. He later was assistant provost marshal for the Hawaiian Department.

From 1931-32, he was a student at the Quartermaster School at Philadelphia.  He was then assigned to the Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. He was transferred to the Quartermaster Corps August 15, 1934.

Hastings graduated from the Army Industrial College in 1936 and from the Command and General Staff School in 1937. He then was assigned to Fort Douglas Utah and the Ogden Ordnance Depot as a construction Quartermaster.  In the fall of 1940, he joined the Construction Division, Office of the Quartermaster General, where he was in charge of  the operational construction of camps and industrial facilities in the United States.

In October 1941, Hastings was appointed assistant to the quartermaster at the Army War College. In March 1942, became executive officer of the Personnel Division in the Office of the Quartermaster General.  In January 1944, he was named deputy director of the Military Personal Branch of the Personnel Division and in January 1947, was designated chief of the Personal and Training Division in that office.  During 1948, he was placed in charge of the Memorial Division.

In May 1949, General Hastings became Quartermaster of the Far East Command and was stationed in Tokyo, Japan.  During the Korean War he was responsible for planning air drop of supplies to beleaguered Allied troops, oversaw the return of remains of servicemen and expedited the the supply of food, clothing, petroleum and other materials to the combat forces.  He was awarded the Silver Star for personal gallantry in Korea.

In October 1952, he was named as the Deputy Quartermaster General.   General Hastings became Quartermaster General on February 5, 1954.  He retired after 38 year of service in 1957 at the end of his tour as Quartermaster General.

The General died in 1983 and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery (Section 30, Grave 530).

HASTINGS, RUTH E.

On September 15, 2001 at Alexandria Hospital RUTH E. HASTINGS of Falls Church, Virginia. Wife of the late Major General Kester L. Hasting. Survived by sons, Brigadier General James E. Hastings, M.D., Honolulu, Hawaii, and Lieutenant Colonel David A. Hastings, Severn, Maryland; four grandchildren, two great grandchildren, Finley and Anton Hastings.

Services will be at the Requiem Eucharist Grace Episcopal Church, 3601 Russell Rd., Alexandria, VA Wednesday, September 26, at 11 a.m. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery private. Memorial contributions may be made to the church and the American Heart Association, 7203 Poplar St., Annandale, VA 22003.

klhastings

HASTINGS, KESTER LOVEJOY

  • MG   US ARMY
  • WORLD WAR II, KOREA
  • DATE OF BIRTH: 03/20/1897
  • DATE OF DEATH: 05/26/1983
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 30  SITE 530 RH
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

HASTINGS, RUTH E

  • DATE OF BIRTH: 04/10/1909
  • DATE OF DEATH: 09/15/2001
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 30  SITE 530 RH
  • ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
  • WIFE OF HASTINGS, KESTER LOVEJOY MG US ARMY

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