Ralph E. Truman

Ralph E. Truman
Born	(1880-05-10)May 10, 1880 Kansas City, Missouri
Died	April 30, 1962(1962-04-30) (aged 81) Kansas City, Missouri
Buried	Springfield National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1898-1901 1916-1919 1921-1944
Rank	Major General
Commands	35th Division
Battles / wars	Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Mexican Expedition World War I Meuse-Argonne Campaign
Relations	Lieutenant General Louis W. Truman (son) Harry S. Truman (cousin)

Ralph Emerson Truman (May 10, 1880 – April 30, 1962) was an American major general who led the 35th Division of the Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska National Guards between 1938 and 1941.

In addition to World War II, he served in the Spanish–American War as well as World War I.

Early life

Ralph E. Truman was born on May 10, 1880, in Kansas City, Missouri. He was orphaned before he was a year old, and was adopted by a farm family and raised in Johnson County, Missouri.

Military service

At the age of eighteen, Truman enlisted in the U.S. Army from Missouri during the Spanish-American War on May 21, 1898, serving until May 20, 1901. He reached the rank of corporal. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Missouri National Guard on June 19, 1916, serving on the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa Expedition from June 27, 1916 to February 28, 1917. On March 26, 1917, he was called into federal service as part of the Machine Gun Company, Fourth Missouri Infantry, after the United States entered World War I. He served in France with the 140th Infantry Regiment of the 35th Division, being promoted to first lieutenant on January 28, 1918, to captain on July 16, 1918, and to major on March 1, 1919. He was discharged on May 28, 1919.

On May 5, 1921, Truman was commissioned a captain in the Missouri National Guard as plans and training officer on the staff of the Sixth Missouri Infantry, later designated the 140th Infantry. He advanced to lieutenant colonel as executive officer of the 140th Infantry on January 24, 1924, and to colonel as chief of staff of the division on September 22, 1932.

Truman was selected as commander of the division and was commissioned a major genera on October 28, 1938. In addition, he held a commission in the Officers Reserve Corps from December 10, 1921 to April 26, 1927, reaching the rank of colonel.

As part of the removal of over-age or militarily inefficient officers in the U.S. Army prior to potential American involvement in World War II, Truman was relieved of his command on October 4, 1941. Rather than being assigned to an administrative position with the Second Army, General Truman chose to resign. After the U.S. entered World War II, Truman withdrew his resignation, but was placed on the inactive list on January 15, 1942, pending a call back to active duty He was retired for age from the Missouri National Guard upon his 64th birthday in May 1944, never having been re-ordered to active duty.

Personal life

As a civilian, Truman served as a special agent for the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, and was also an investigator on the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Truman's first wife was the former Nannie L. Watson, whom he married on July 4, 1903, in Texas. The couple had three children; a daughter, Henrietta, and two sons, Louis and Corbie. Nannie Truman died unexpectedly in 1931 at the age of fifty, and the next year, Ralph remarried to the former Olive L. Johnson. The couple did not have any children, and remained married until Ralph's death on April 30, 1962, at the age of eighty-two, from a heart attack.

Truman's oldest son, Louis W. Truman, became a lieutenant general in the U.S. Army and served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, leading Third United States Army from 1965-1967, and was the cousin of President Harry S. Truman who had served in the 35th Infantry Division during World War I.

External links

• Generals of World War II