Hal Cushman Pattison – Brigadier General, United States Army

From a contemporary press report:

Brigadier General Hal Cushman Pattison, 92, a retired Army brigadier general whose assignments included assistant director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and assistant commander of the 4th Armored Division  in Germany, died of complications from renal failure and pneumonia February 22, 1999 at the Loudoun Medical Center in Leesburg. He lived in Sterling, Virginia.

General Pattison, a native of Mercer County, Illinois, and a 1930 graduate of the University of Illinois, left a managerial career with a general retail store in Detroit to volunteer for active military duty in 1941.

During World War II, he served in Europe with the 4th Armored Division. He received an Army commission following the war and graduated from the Armed Command & General Staff College. He served on the U.S. staff in London and was assigned to the operations division of the Army General Staff at the Pentagon.

In the mid-1950s, he served as assistant commander and acting commander of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea. After his promotion to brigadier general he became assistant commander of the 1st Cavalry Division in Japan.

He retired from the military in 1962 but was recalled to active duty four months later to serve as the Army’s Chief of Military History. In this capacity, he supervised the completion of the official history of the Army in World War II and established a network of historical teams to gather information relating to the Army in the Vietnam War.

He retired in 1970 and pursued his interest in family genealogy. He held state and national level committee assignments in hereditary organizations. He was a member of the Society of the Mayflower Descendants and past governor of the District of Columbia society.

Survivors include his wife of 66 years, Cleda Woodworth Pattison of Sterling; two sons, Hal W. Pattison of Alexandria and William C. Pattison of Olympia, Wash.; two grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

PATTISON, HAL C.

On February 22, 1999, in Leesburg, VA. Survived by his wife of 65 years, Cleda W.; two sons, William C. and Hal W.; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Funeral services at the Ft. Myer Chapel, Arlington, VA, Tuesday, March 9, 11 a.m. Interment to follow Arlington National Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Army Emergency Relief, 200 Stovall Street, Alexandria, VA 22332.

Michael Robert Patterson

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